This  book  is  DUE  on  the  ' 


H 


f 


SOUTHERN  BRAN, 

'•''''ERSITY  UF  CAi  IFr 

LIBRARY 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2008  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/englisliliteraturOOmill 


r:<^' 


ENGLISH 
LITERATURE 

AN  INTRODUCTION  AND  GUIDE 
TO  THE    BEST   ENGLISH    BOOKS 

A  HANDBOOK  FOR  SCHOOLS  AND  READERS 


BY 

EDWIN  L.  MILLER,  A.M. 

PRINCIPAL   OF   THE  DETROIT,   MICHIGAN,    NORTHWESTERN   HIGH   SCHOOl 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  LONDON 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 


14  01    'i.'i 


lAPR 


COPYRIGHT,    1917,    BV  J.   E.    LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY 


3333 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company 
The  Washington  Square  Press,  Philadelphia,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

All  my  life  I  have  loved,  owned,  collected  and  read  books.  The 
motive  back  of  these  activities  has  not,  however,  been  any  desire  on 
my  part  to  improve  my  mind.  Being  satisfied  with  my  mind  as  it  is, 
I  have  read  in  the  spirit  in  which  boys  play  ball,  girls  dress  their 
dolls,  men  attend  prize  fights,  and  women  gossip  about  their  neigh- 
bors. I  have  read,  in  other  words,  for  fun;  and  I  have  found  in  the 
collection,  the  ownership,  and  the  perusal  of  books  a  source  of 
pleasure  which,  unlike  most  pleasures,  is  not  only  inexpensive  and 
harmless  but  has  grown  deeper  with  time. 

My  object  in  writing  this  book  has  been,  if  possible,  to  convey  to 
others  the  secret  of  the  location  of  the  source  of  this  fountain  of  per- 
petual refreshment.  I  wish  to  show  people  how  to  extract  from  books 
the  same  kind  and  degree  of  satisfaction  that  they  get  from  games, 
movies,  and  automobiles.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  these  pages  will  be 
read,  not  because  they  are  instructive,  but  because  they  are  enter- 
taining. Of  course,  like  the  pages  of  Mark  Twain's  "  Roughing  It," 
they  do  have  information  in  them.  "  Try  as  I  will,"  he  says,  "  in- 
formation appears  to  stew  out  of  me  like  the  sweet  ottar  of  roses  out 
of  the  otter."  It  is  so  with  me.  I  cannot  help  it.  Judging,  however, 
by  what  I  know  of  the  average  person,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
he  will  not  absorb  enough  learning  from  this  book  to  impair  either 
his  health  or  his  character. 

Seriously  speaking,  however,  I  trust  that  the  following  pages  will 
be  pleasant  to  read;  that  they  "will  arouse  curiosity  about  books  and 
authors;  that  they  will  incite  people  to  read  books;  and  that  they  will 
inoculate  some  of  those  who  read  them  with  the  altogether  proper, 
harmless  and  desirable  mania  for  owning  them.  .The  last  assertion 
I  make  boldly,  though  I  know  that  some  persons  of  low  character  will 
probably  charge  me  with  being  in  league  with  those  natural  enemies 
of  society  who  are  commonly  known  as  printers.    To  forestall  their 


4  PREFACE 

criticism,  I  will  add  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  most  meritorious  act  ever 
performed  by  Napoleon  was  to  order  one  of  them  shot.  Though  I 
perceive  that  the  last  sentence  is  a  trifle  ambiguous,  I  purposely 
leave  it  so. 

The  reader  will  note  that  some  authors,  who,  in  the  encyclopedia 
of  Hterature,  should  be  treated  at  length,  are  scarcely  mentioned, 
while  others  receive  a  relatively  large  amount  of  attention.  This 
circumstance  is  due  to  the  fact  that  my  purpose  is  to  stimulate  the 
interest  in  beginners  in  literature  rather  than  to  convey  information 
to  experts.  Thus  there  is  a  good  deal  about  Pope  and  Macaulay  and 
not  much  on  the  subject  of  Arnold  and  De  Quincy.  I  am  guided,  in 
other  words,  in  my  choice  of  bait,  not  by  my  own  taste,  but  by  what 
I  conceive  to  be  the  taste  of  the  fish. 

It  is  my  belief  that,  of  all  the  chapters  in  the  book,  the  reader 
will  find  most  satisfaction  in  those  on  Milton,  Bunyan  and  Dryden. 
This  need  occasion  no  surprise,  for  I  did  not  write  them  myself. 
They  are  from  the  pen  of  Miss  Helen  M.  Hard. 

Edwin  L.  Miller. 
Detroit,  July  14,  1917. 


CONTENTS 

rHAPTER  PAGE 

I,  A  Definition  of  Literature 9 

II.  The  Roots  of  English 13 

III.  The  Saxons  (55  b.c.  to  iigo  a.d.) 19 

IV.  The  Normans  (876-1216) 40 

V.  The  English  (1216-1400) 47 

VI.  Geoffrey  Chaucer  (1332-1400) 60 

VII.  The  End  of  the  Middle  Ages  (1400-1500) 79 

VIII.  A  Century  of  Expansion  (1500-1600) 88 

-  -"^X.  Edmund  Spenser  (1552-1599) io3_ 

X.  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 115 

(     XL  Francis  Bacon  (1561-1626) 143 

lOCII.  Other  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  Writers  (1559-1625)  151 

""xrTf:  Puritan  and  Cavalier  (1625-1660) 163 

XIV.  John  Milton  (1608-1674) 174 

XV.  John  Bunyan  (1628-1688) 193 

XVI.  The  Restoration  (1660-1685) 198 

XVII.  John  Dr\t>en  (1631-1700) 206 

^-^VIII.  A  Century  of  Prose  (1688-1789) 212 

XIX.  Jonathan  Swift  (1667-1745) 222 

XX.  Joseph  Addison  (1672-1719) 232 

XXI.  Alexander  Pope  (1688-1744) 246 

XXII.  Samuel  Johnson  (1709-1784) 266 

XXIII.  Oliver  Goldsmith  (1728-1774) 280 

XXIV.  Edmund  Burke  (i 729-1 797) 288 

XXV.  Other  Eighteenth  Century  Writers 298 

i/5tXVI.  The  Renascence  of  Wonder  in  Poetry 311 

XXVII.  Robert  Burns  (1759-1796) 315 

XXVIII.  William  Wordsworth  (1770-1850) 328 

XXIX.  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 346 

,  XXX.  Samuel  Ta\'lor  Coleridge  (1772-1834) 358 

XXXI.  Charles  Lamb  (1775-1834) 364 

XXXII.  Lord  Byron  (1788-1824).. 373 

XXXIII.  Percy  Bysshe  Shelly  (1792-1822) 384 

XXXIV.  John  Keats  (1795-1821) 390_ 

j^XXV.  Other  Early  Nineteenth  Century*  Writers 396 

XXXVI.  Thomas  Carl\-le  (1795-1881) 410 

5 


6  CONTENTS 

XXXVII.  Lord  Macaulay  (1800-1859) 425 

XXXVIII.  Lord  Tennyson  (1809-1892) 435 

XXXIX.  Robert  Browning  (1812-1889) 445 

XL.  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 453 

XLI.  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  (1811-1863) 463 

XLII.  John  Ruskin  (1819-1900) 473 

XLIII.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) ^.85 

XLIV.  Woman  Writers 494 

XLV.  Jane  Austen  (1775-1817) 504 

XLVI.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning   (1806-1861) 516 

XLVII.  George  Eliot  (1819-1880) 524 

XLVIII.  Other  Victorian  Writers 530 

XLIX.  Recent  Writers 552 

L.  Rudyard  Kipling  (1865-        ) 562 

Appendix 570 

Epilogue 573 

Index 575 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

William  Shakespeare  (from  the  Droeshoet  Engraving) Frontispiece 

Medieval  Scribe .  12 

The  British  Mviseum,  London 14 

Chart  of  Prehistoric  Human  Remains 16 

Facsimile  of  Eleventh  Century  Mrmuscript  Containing  Descriptions  of  the 

Wonders  of  the  East 17 

Expulsion  of  Adam  and  Eve  from  Paradise 32 

Geoffrey  Chaucer 62 

The  Canterbury  Pilgrims 67 

The  Monk 72 

Paper-making  in  the  Fifteenth  Century 81 

From  the  Metrical  Romance  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  (1528) 85 

The  High  Street,  Oxford 90 

The  Dining  Hall  at  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford 91 

Sir  Philip  Sidney 99 

Edmund  Spenser 104 

Reproduction  of  a  Sketch  of  the  Swan  Theatre,  London 122 

Portia's  Speech 127 

Facsimile  of  Title-page  to  the  Fourth  Edition  of  "Hamlet"  in  the  Quarto 

Text 132 

Francis  Bacon .• 144 

Ben  Jonson 153 

The  Tower  of  London 164 

John  Milton 175 

Facsimile  of  the  First  Page  of  the  First  Edition  of  "Paradise  Lost" 188 

John  Bunyan, 194 

Facsimile  of  Title-page  of  First  Edition  of  "The  Pilgrim's  Progress"  ....  195 
Reproduction  of  an  Old   Broadside   Representing  a  Scene  in  a  Typical 

English  Coffee-house  of  the  Restoration  Period 203 

John  Drv'den 207 

Daniel  Defoe 214 

Edward  Gibbon 216 

Title-page  of  First  Edition  of  Percy's  "  Reliques" 218 

Jonathan  Swift 223 

Joseph  Addison 233 

Alexander  Pope 248 

Samuel  Johnson 267 

The  Cathedral  at  Lichfield 269 

Interior  View  of  the  Cheshire  Cheese 274 

7 


8  ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Corner  from  Which  Dr.  Johnson  Held  Forth 276 

The  Strand,  London 277 

Oliver  Goldsmith 282 

Edmund  Burke 290 

Robinson  Crusoe 299 

Thomas  Gray 305 

Robert  Bums 317 

Burns's  Birthplace  at  Alloway 324 

William  Wordsworth 329 

Sir  Walter  Scott ■ 347 

Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge 359 

Charles  Lamb 365 

Lord  Byron 374 

Percy  Bysshe  Shelley 385 

John  Keats 39 1 

William  Blake 397 

Thomas  Moore 407 

Thomas  Carlyle 412 

The  "Sound-proof"  Study  in  Carlyle's  House  upon  Cheyne  Row 414 

Carlyle's  Monument  on  the  Embankment  at  the  Bottom  of  Cheyne  Row  416 

Thomas  Babington  Macaulay 426 

Lord  Tennyson 437 

Robert  Browning 446 

Charles  Dickens 455 

William  Makepeace  Thackeray 465 

John  Ruskin 475 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson 486 

Fanny  Burney  (Madame  D'Arblay) 496 

Maria  Edgeworth 498 

Mary  Russell  Mitford 499 

Mrs.  Hemans 500 

Charlotte  Bronte 501 

Jane  Austen 505 

Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning 517 

George  Ehot 525 

Charles  Robert  Darwin 536 

Matthew  Arnold 541 

Herbert  Spencer 543 

Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti 546 

Algernon  Charles  Swinburne 548 

Rudyard  Kipling 563 

The  Houses  of  Parliament 567 

Outline  Map  of  Great  Britain   574 


ENGLISH 
LITERATURE 

CHAPTER  I 

A  DEFINITION  OF  LITERATURE 

"  Literary  men  arc  a  perpetual  priesthood." 

— Thomas  Carlyle. 

What  is  literature?  Before  we  begin  the  study  of  English  litera- 
ture, let  us  ask  ourselves  in  what  sense  we  are  to  use  the  word. 
Dr.  Johnson  described  it  as  something  designed  to  make  familia'- 
things  new  and  new  things  familiar.  Matthew  Arnold  called  it  a 
criticism  of  life.  Shelley  considered  one  branch  of  it,  poetry,  as  a 
record  of  the  best  and  happiest  moments  of  the  happiest  and  best 
lives.  Milton  said  that  a  good  book  is  the  precious  life  blood  of  a 
master  spirit,  embalmed  and  treasured  up  on  purpose  to  a  life  beyond 
life.     To  Carlyle  it  was  the  thought  of  thinking  souls. 

Though  these  sayings  are  all  suggestive  and  inspiring,  none  of 
them,  strictly  speaking,  is  a  definition,  because  none  of  them  tells 
the  two  things  which  a  definition  of  literature  should  tell:  (1)  all 
that  it  is;  (2)  all  that  it  is  not.  Everybody  remembers  how  Plato 
defined  man  as  a  featherless  biped,  and  how  Diogenes  the  next  day 
brought  to  his  lecture  room  a  plucked  fowl,  which  he  exhibited  to  the 
assembled  students  with  the  ill-natured  remark:  "  Behold  Plato's 
man!  "  These  definitions  of  literature  are  open  to  the  same  objec- 
tion. If  you  analyze  them  carefully  you  will  perceive  that  they  all 
apply  with  practically  equal  exactness  to  other  things  as  well  as  to 
literature.  Pictures,  statues,  travel,  often  make  familiar  things  new 
and  new  things  familiar.  Music,  sculpture,  and  painting  are  criti- 
cisms of  life.  The  steam-engine  and  the  telephone  are  records  of  the 
best  and  happiest  moments  of  great  and  happy  lives.  Milton's 
definition  of  a  good  book  is  equally  applicable  to  a  fine  statue.    An 

9 


10  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

automobile  is  just  as  surely  as  a  poem  the  thought  of  a  thinking  soul. 

Between  the  steam-engine,  the  telephone,  and  the  automobile  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  picture,  the  statue,  and  the  song  on  the  other, 
there  is,  however,  a  difference.  The  first  three  are  designed  primarily 
to  promote  our  physical  comfort  and  convenience;  the  latter  three 
minister  to  our  spiritual  requirements.  To  which  class  do  books 
belong? 

Some  books  belong  obviously  in  the  first  class:  cook-books,  alge- 
bras, scientific  treatises,  books  on  law  and  medicine,  guide  books. 
Others,  such  as  poems,  novels,  plays,  sermons,  belong  as  clearly  in 
the  second  class.  To  books  of  this  class,"  to  sculpture,  to  music,  to 
certain  forms  of  architecture,  and  to  landscape  gardening  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  apply  the  name  Art.  Literature,  then,  is  an  art,  but  not  all 
writing  is  literature.     But  what  is  art? 

There  are  two  worlds.  The  one  is  of  the  senses,  the  other  of  the 
spirit.  The  one  is  of  things  seen,  heard,  tasted,  smelled,  and  touched; 
the  other  of  things  understood,  felt,  imagined,  and  willed.  The  one 
is  physical,  the  other  spiritual.  Between  these  worlds  there  is  just 
the  difference  that  there  is  between  noise  and  music,  a  pile  of  bricks 
and  a  cathedral,  a  dictionary  and  a  poem.  The  artist  turns  noise  into 
music,  paint  into  pictures,  words  into  novels  and  plays.  He  accom- 
plishes this  by  expressing  in  concrete  form  ideas  that  are  abstract. 
Instead  of  writing  a  poem  on  wisdom,  he  carves  a  statue  of  Minerva; 
instead  of  composing  a  treatise  on  the  sin  of  procrastination,  he 
produces  the  play  of  "  Hamlet."  Priests  and  philosophers  discuss 
the  infinite  and  abstract  in  terms  of  the  infinite  and  abstract;  scien- 
tists discuss  the  concrete  in  terms  of  the  concrete;  artists  express  the 
infinite  and  the  abstract  in  terms  that  are  finite  and  concrete,  giving 
to  the  finite  the  grace  and  dignity  of  the  infinite,  bestowing  upon  the 
abstract  the  precision,  the  color,  and  the  interest  of  the  concrete. 

This  is  equally  true  of  all  the  arts.  They  differ  because  they  deal 
in  different  materials.  The  architect  uses  brick,  the  sculptor  marble, 
the  painter  canvas,  the  writer  words. 

Literature  therefore  includes  all  writing  which  expresses  spiritual 
truth  by  means  of  concrete  imagery.  For  this  reason,  in  common 
with  other  arts,  it  is  often  characterized  as  imaginative;  that  is,  it 


A  DEFINITION  OF  LITERATURE  11 

accomplishes  its  end  by  producing  concrete  images.  It  will  be  seen, 
then,  that  a  piece  of  writing,  in  order  to  be  classed  in  the  strict  sense 
as  literature,  must  fulfil  two  conditions:  first,  it  must  have  what  is 
called  local  color;  that  is,  it  must  be  vivid,  concrete,  picturesque; 
second,  it  must  present  ideas  that  are  interesting  and  intelligible  in 
distant  lands  and  times.  A  treatise  on  algebra,  for  instance,  is  per- 
fectly intelligible  to  anybody  of  reasonable  intelligence,  but  it  is  not 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  literature,  because  it  has  no  local  color. 
The  "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  on  the  other  hand,  gives  us  a  picture 
of  certain  men  and  women  of  Shakespeare's  generation,  a  picture  that 
is  as  readily  understood  to-day  as  it  was  three  hundred  years  ago, 
a  picture  that  is  as  intelligible  in  San  Francisco  or  Sydney  as  in 
London  or  Liverpool.  It  presents  passions  and  ideas  that  are  inter- 
esting always  and  everywhere,  but  it  presents  them  in  the  guise  of  a 
story  about  particular  people.     This  is  what  we  call  literature. 

In  its  narrow  sense,  then,  literature  is  that  one  of  the  arts  which 
finds  its  expression  in  language.  In  common  with  painting,  sculpture, 
architecture,  and  landscape  gardening,  it  embodies  abstract  and 
universal  ideas  in  concrete  form,  giving  to  airy  nothings  a  local 
habitation  and  a  name.  It  differs  from  other  arts  in  that  its  medium 
of  expression  is  language. 

In  a  broader  sense,  the  literature  of  a  nation  is  the  entire  body 
of  its  thoughts,  discoveries,  memories,  fancies,  imaginations,  reason-j 
ings,  and  aspirations  as  these  find  permanent  expression  in  letters. 
The  word  "  literature,"  it  should  be  noted  here,  comes  from  the  Latin 
word  litera,  which  means  "  letter."  The  French  term  belles  lettres 
(literally  "  beautiful  letters  ")  is  used  sometimes  to  designate  litera- 
ture so  far  as  it  is  an  art. 

In  this  book,  English  literature  is  treated  in  its  broad  sense. 
Many  of  the  works  noticed  do  not  belong  in  the  realm  of  belles  lettres. 
Many  of  the  important  works  belonging  in  the  realm  of  bellei 
lettres  are  left  unnoticed.  The  aim  has  been  to  exclude  all  those 
books  which  have  no  direct  or  immediate  interest  for  the  beginner 
and  to  omit  nothing  which  has  been  proved  to  contain  a  real  message 
for  him. 


u 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  VVho  were  Dr.  Johnson,  I\iatthew  Arnold,  Shelley,  Milton,  and  Carlyle? 

For  answers  consult  the  index  of  this  volume. 

2.  How  did  each  define  literature? 

3.  In  what  respect  is  the  definition  of  each  faulty? 

4.  What  two  things  must  a  definition  do? 

5.  How  did  Plato  get  into  trouble  through  carelessness  in  defining? 

6.  Who  were  Plato  and  Diogenes? 

7.  What   is   the    fundamental    difference   between    a   steam-engine   and   a 

song? 

8.  Are  all  books  art?     If  not,  what  books? 

9.  What  is  art? 

10.  What  is  the  fundamental  dififertnce  between  literature  and  sculpture? 


MEDIEVAL  SCRIBE 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  ROOTS  OF  ENGLISH 

"  He  who  is  acquainted  with  no  foreign  tongue  knows  nothing  of  his 
own."  — Goethe. 

As  language  is  the  material  in  which  the  literary  artist  works, 
it  seems  proper  at  this  point  to  say  a  word  about  the  English  language 
as  the  medium  of  English  literature.  Whence  cam'e  it  and  what  are 
its  relations  with  other  languages? 

To  anybody  who  has  studied  a  little  Latin,  French,  or  German  it 
is  clear  that  English  in  some  ways  is  related  to  all  three.  The 
English  words  "  father,"  "  mother,"  ''  brother,"  and  "  sister,"  for 
example,  are  obviously  like  the  Latin  words  pater,  mater,  jrater,  and 
soror;  the  French  words  pere,  mere,  jrcre,  and  soeur;  and  the  German 
words  Vater,  Mutter,  Briider,  and  Schivester.  Everybody  has  known 
this  for  a  long  time,  but  it  is  only  since  1 783  that  its  fuller  meaning  has 
become  clear. 

In  that  year  the  British  government  sent  out  to  India  as  a  judge 
a  young  man  named  Sir  William  Jones.  Being  a  student  of  lan- 
guages he  became  familiar,  while  there,  with  Sanskrit;  and,  to  his 
great  surprise,  discovered  that,  instead  of  being  closely  related,  as  he 
had  expected,  to  the  languages  of  the  East,  it  bore  every  mark  of 
being  a  cousin,  so  to  speak,  to  the  languages  of  Europe.  The 
German  scholar,  Franz  Bopp  (1791-1867),  by  a  scientific  compari- 
son of  Sanskrit,  Persian,  Greek,  Latin,  Gothic,  and  German,  in  his 
"  Comparative  Grammar,"  1833-1852,  proved  Jones's  guess  to  have 
been  right,  founded  the  science  of  comparative  philology,  and  gave  the 
world  a  vision  of  our  ancestors  that  extends  back  many  ages  before 
the  dawn  of  authentic  history.  His  conclusions  and  those  of  his 
immediate  successors  amount  to  what  follows: 

Perhaps  6000,  perhaps  60,000  years  ago,  there  lived  in  the  high- 
lands of  central  Asia  a  sturdy,  warlike,  and  progressive  race.  Their 
lands  being  too  small  for  their  needs,  they  took  territory  away  from 

13 


14 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


their  neighbors  until  they  had  overrun  India,  Persia,  Afghanistan, 
Beloochistan,  Kurdistan,  Armenia,  and  all  of  Europe  except  Finland 
and  that  small  portion  of  northern  Spain  which  is  occupied  by  the 
Basques.  Upon  the  lands  thus  conquered  they  imposed  their  lan- 
guage and  their  civilization.  At  the  dawn  of  history,  that  is,  in 
776  B.C..  they  were  in  possession  of  all  Europe. 

These  movements  must  have  taken  ages.     They  took  so  much 
time  that  the  memory  of  them  was  lost  and  the  original  Aryan  lan- 


The  British  Museum,  London,  The  Repository  of  English  Learning 

guage  became  so  changed  that  the  different  branches  of  the  race 
could  no  longer  understand  one  another.  The  result  was  that,  at 
the  dawn  of  history,  Europe  was  occupied  by  live  related  Aryan  races 
who  were  quite  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  they  had  all  sprung  from 
the  same  stock.  These  five  races  were  the  Greeks,  who  held  much 
the  same  land  which  they  possess  to-day;  the  Romans,  who  were 
probably  an  offshot  from  the  Greeks;  the  Celts,  who  were  in  posses- 
sion of  Spain,  France,  and  the  British  Isles;  the  Teutons,  who  held 
Belgium  and  western  Germany;  and  the  Slavs,  who.  in  the  time  of 
Julius  Cffsar  (55  B.C.),  had  possession  of  eastern  Europe,  including 


THE  ROOTS  OF  ENGLISH  15 

the  land  on  which  both  Berlin  and  Vienna  stand  to-day.  These  all 
carried  on  a  constant  struggle  with  one  another  for  the  possession 
of  the  continent,  a  struggle  which,  by  the  way,  still  bursts  out  every 
few  years  with  undiminished  fury. 

All  this  will  be  made  a  little  clearer  by  the  following  table,  which 
is  designed  to  show  the  genealogy,  or  family  history,  of  the  Aryan 
languages. 

Aryan 


Asiatic  European 

^ ,  , I 


I  I.  I;  I.  I  I 

Sanskrit        Persian  Celtic        Classical        Teutonic  Slavonic 


Greek        Lati 


Russian     Polish 


Dutch    German 


Italian     Spanish    French 


English 

About  1860,  however,  the  Asiatic  origin  of  the  Aryans  began  to 
be  doubted.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  there  are  no  words  for  "  camel," 
"  lion,"  "  tiger,"  "  ass,"  or  "  cat  "  common  to  all  Aryan  languages, 
it  was  argued  that  the  original  Aryans  did  not  know  these  animals 
and  hence  did  not  live  in  a  warm  climate.  The  words  "  wolf," 
"  bear,"  and  "  birch  "  being  common,  on  the  other  hand,  to  all  of 
the  Aryan  languages,  it  was  inferred  that  they  did  live  in  a  cold 
climate.  All  Europe  is  named  with  words  of  Aryan  origin.  Asia  is 
not  so  named.  The  theory  of  the  Asiatic  origin  of  the  race  was  there- 
fore seriously  shaken. 

It  was  shaken  still  further  by  a  series  of  discoveries  which  began 
to  be  made  about  1865.  These  comprised,  among  other  things,  pre- 
historic burial  mounds  in  the  British  Isles,  prehistoric  human  remains 
in  the  region  of  Dordogne  in  France,  prehistoric  villages  built  on 
piles  in  the  lakes  of  Switzerland,  and  huge  prehistoric  piles  of  bones 


16  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

known  as  kitchen  middens  in  Denmark.  From  the  geological  strata 
in  which  the  earliest  of  these  relics  were  found  it  was  concluded  that 
Europe  had  been  inhabited  for  a  much  longer  period  than  had  been 
supposed;  and  from  the  comparative  study  of  the  skulls  unearthed  it 
was  seen  that,  instead  of  one  race,  at  least  four  still  existing  races 
have  held  Europe  since  the  ice  age.  Only  one  of  these,  of  course, 
could  have  been  the  original  Aryan  stock.  German  scholars  mostly 
hold  that  this  was  Teutonic,  while  French  maintain  it  to  have  been 
Celtic.  The  fact  that  the  Celtic  skulls  have  a  larger  capacity  than 
the  Teutonic  makes  it  appear  probable  that  the  latter  inference  is 


C=Celtic;  G  =  Germanic;  L=Lettic;  S=Slavonic;  5c  =  Scythian;  5a  =  Sarmatian;  D  = 
Dacian;  r=Thracian;  i  =  Illyrian;  /(  =  Italic;  i7= Hellenic;  P=Phrygian;  A  =  Armenian ; /r= 
Iranian;  /«  =  Indian. 

right.  The  evidence  now  available  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Celts 
conquered  the  races  of  Illyria,  Italy,  Dacia,  and  Germany,  and 
imposed  on  them  their  culture  and  language.  Then,  after  a  time, 
the  conquerors  died  out,  became  merged  in  the  conquered,  or  were  in 
turn  themselves  subdued.  Their  language,  however,  though  changed 
in  details,  remained  in  its  fundamental  structure  and  vocabulary 
intact.  The  new  races  which  had  thus  acquired  the  Aryan  languages 
in  turn  communicated  them  to  other  races  and  so  on  until  they  had 
spread  as  far  east  as  India.  Exactly  this  same  thing  has  continued 
into  historic  times.  Thus  the  Romans,  themselves  a  non- Aryan 
race,  imposed  their  Aryan  language  on  the  Spaniards,  a  second  non- 


THE  ROOTS  OF  ENGLISH 


17 


Aryan  race;  and  they  in  turn  carried  it  to  South  America,  Mexico, 
and  the  Philippines,  where  it  is  now  spoken  by  millions  of  Indians 
and  Malays.  English  in  the  same  fashion  has  spread  over  North 
America,  South  Africa,  and  Australasia,  and  is  making  some  progress 
in  India,  China,  and  Japan.     At  the  present  time,  therefore,  it  is 


yetCL 


bJtAi 


pJJileorccnJe-  ktcrr^'onlense-  hunJ>r-tor.je- 
tcna^>tiicelnc(*se  nem  c^  now  mrtn 


Facsimile  taken  from  an  eleventh  century  manuscript  containing  descriptions  of  the  won- 
ders of  the  East.     Probably  such  manuscripts  inspired  Sir  John  Mandeville 


believed  that  the  relationship  of  the  Aryan  languages  can  be  more 
accurately  represented  by  the  diagram  on  Page  16  than  by  the 
genealogical  table  on  Page  15. 

This  diagram  represents  the  situation  when  Rome  was  founded, 

753  B.C.    The  Romans  spoke  Latin,  which  is  a  dialect  of  Italic.     In 

"^  course  cf  time,  that  is  to  say,  about  150  b.c,  they  subdued  Spain  and 


18  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

imposed  their  language  upon  its  inhabitants.  A  hundred  years  later, 
under  Julius  Caesar,  they  also  conquered  Gaul.  Here,  too,  Latin 
gradually  supplanted  Celtic.  When  the  Roman  empire  went  to  pieces 
about  400  A.D.,  the  Latin  language,  however,  remained  in  both 
Spain  and  Gaul  the  language  of  the  people.  But  it  was  modernized 
and  simplified  in  course  of  time  until  it  ceased  to  be  called  Latin  and 
became  what  we  now  call  Spanish  and  French.  Italian  is  also  a 
modern  dialect  of  Latin.  Celtic  survives  in  Welsh,  Highland  Scotch, 
and  Irish.  Dutch,  German,  Danish,  Swedish,  and  Norwegian  are 
similarly  modern  dialects  of  Germanic  or  Teutonic.  Russian  is  a 
survival  of  Slavonic  and  Persian  of  Iranian,  while  in  India  there  are 
no  less  than  fourteen  modern  Aryan  languages  derived  from  Sanskrit. 
Modern  English  is  a  curious  and  interesting  mixture  of  French 
and  German.  How  this  union  came  about  is  to  be  told  in  the  next 
three  chapters. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Find  and  copy  into  your  note-book  ten  words  which  are  common  to 

English  and  either  French,  German,  or  Latin. 

2.  With  what  does  the  science  of  comparative  philology  deal? 

3.  Make  a  two-minute  speech  about  Sir  William  Jones. 

4.  Explain  the  exact  nature  of  his  contribution  to  comparative  philology. 

5.  Discuss   briefly    the    relationship    of    Sanskrit   to    Latin,    French,    and 

German. 

6.  In  what  nation  and  by  what  men  was  the  science  of  comparative  phil- 

olog>'  developed? 

7.  Who  were  the  Aryans  ? 

8.  Where  did  they  originate? 

9.  Are  all  Aryan-speaking  races  Aryan? 

ID.   Cite  some  modern  examples  of  the  transference  of  language  from  race 
to  race. 

Suggested  Readings. —  (a)  Henry  Morley's  "  English  Writers,"  vol.  i, 
Book  I  ;  {b)  "  l""rom  the  Beginnings  Till  After  the  Norman  Conquest,"  by 
Stopford  A.  Brooke,  vol.  i,  p.  i,  of  Chambers'  Encyclopaedia  of  English 
Literature;  (c)  "A  School  History  of  England,"  by  C.  R.  L.  Fletcher  and 
Rudyard  Kipling,  Chapter  I;  (d)  "The  Knife  and  the  Naked  Chalk,"  a 
story  by  Rudyard  Kipling;  (e)  "  Ab,  the  Cave  Man,"  by  Stanley  Waterloo; 
(/)  "  Tlie  Origin  of  the  Aryans,"  by  Isaac  Taylor;  (g)  "The  Story  of 
Ung,"  a  poem,  by  Rudyard  Kipling;  (h)  "  How  the  First  Letter  Was  Writ- 
ten "  and  "  How  the  Alphabet  Was  Made,"  two  stories,  by  Rudyard  Kipling. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  SAXONS  (55  B.C.  TO  iioo  A.D.) 

"An  overwhelming  proportion  of  the  words  which  make  up  our  daily  speech  is 
drawn  from  Anglo-Saxon' roots,  and  our  syntax  is  as  distinctly  and  as  gen- 
erally to  be  traced  to  the  same  source." 

— George  P.  Marsh. 

The  year  55  B.C.  is  the  1492  of  England.  The  British  Isles  in 
that  year  emerged  from  the  mists  of  tradition  into  the  clear  sunlight 
of  authentic  history.  For  this  event  we  are  indebted  to  the  adven- 
turous spirit  of  that  Julius  Caesar  whose  fate  has  been  immortalized 
by  Shakespeare  and  in  whose  Commentaries  those  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  study  Latin  may  still  read  how  he  with  his  Roman  legions 
crossed  the  British  Channel.  Julius  Caesar  may  therefore  in  a  sense 
be  called  the  Christopher  Columbus  of  England.  In  this  connection 
it  is  worth  noting  that  both  of  the  great  homes  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  were  revealed,  as  it  were,  by  natives  of  the  Italian  peninsula. 

Caesar,  however,  did  not  find  any  Anglo-Saxons  in  Britain.  It 
was  peopled  in  his  time  by  the  same  Celtic  race  which  inhabited  Gaul 
and  Spain.  These  Celts,  while  by  no  means  savages,  were  still  bar- 
barians. They  had  no  property  but  arms  and  cattle.  War  was  their 
favorite  business.  Their  favorite  pastime  was  a  game  played  with 
balls  made  of  a  mixture  of  lime  and  the  brains  of  their  fallen  foes. 
They  buried  their  dead,  as  did  the  Indians  of  North  America,  with 
their  weapons  by  their  sides.  One  of  the  characteristics  of  their 
religion  was  human  sacrifice.  Caesar  says  that  they  used  innocent 
persons  for  this  purpose  when  the  supply  of  criminals  ra/i  short.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  was  in  their  natures,  as  there  is  in  that  of  their 
descendants,  the  Welsh  and  Irish  of  to-day,  much  to  admire  and  to 
love.  As  a  race  they  were  tender,  vivacious,  and  melancholy;  they 
held  poets  and  poetry  in  high  esteem;  and  they  thought  it  infamous 
for  a  chieftain  to  close  the  door  of  his  house  at  all,  lest  a  stranger 
come  and  behold  his  contracting  soul.  This  indisposition  to  close 
the  door  may  still  be  noted  in  their  descendants.  A  few  years  ago, 
when  a  reform  administration  in  Chicago  undertook  to  enforce  an 
ordinance  requiring  all  saloons  to  be  locked  up  at  certain  hours,  it 

19 


20  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

was  found  that  one  proprietor  of  unmistakably  Celtic  origin  had  lost 
his  key;  his  hospitable  door  had  stood  open  day,  night,  and  Sunday 
for  twenty  years. 

Caesar  did  not  subdue  these  fierce  islanders.  It  is  probable  that 
he  left  their  shores  in  some  haste.  At  all  events,  it  was  not  until 
almost  a  century  more  had  elapsed  (43  a.d.)  that  the  Romans 
effected  a  permanent  lodgement  in  Britain,  and  it  was  not  until  81  a.d. 
that  they  can  be  said  to  have  conquered  the  country.  Even  then 
their  subjugation  of  the  islands  appears  to  have  been  incomplete. 
The  remains  of  a  great  wall  which  they  built,  140  a.d.,  from  the 
Firth  of  Clyde  to  the  Firth  of  Fo'rth  bear  mute  but  eloquent  testimony 
to  the  limits  of  their  power. 

Under  Roman  rule  the  characteristics  of  the  Celts  were  softened 
by  humane  laws  and  a  milder  worship.  Roads  were  built,  schools 
established,  fine  buildings  arose,  and  agriculture  flourished  to  such 
an  extent  that,  in  the  fourth  century,  warehouses  were  built  in  Rome 
for  the  storage  of  British  corn.  Along  with  the  rest  of  the  Roman 
world,  Britain  toward  the  end  of  this  period  was  gradually  Christian-' 
ized.  The  student  who  wishes  to  obtain  a  vivid  conception  of  the 
island  under  Roman  rule  should  read  in  Mr.  Rudyard  Kipling's  "  Puck 
of  Pook's  Hill  "  the  fascinating  stories  entitled  "A  Centurion  of  the 
Thirtieth,"  "  On  the  Wall,"  and  the  "  White  Hats."  In  these  tales, 
as  Dr.  Johnson  with  great  felicity  says  of  another  book,  are  illus- 
trated two  of  the  most  agreeable  functions  of  literature:  familiar 
things  are  made  new  and  new  things  familiar. 

The  story  of  our  literature  begins  with  the  Celts.  As  Henry 
Morley  says,  it  cannot  be  dissociated  from  the  lively  Celtic  wit  in 
which  it  has  one  of  its  sources.  Without  this  element  England  could 
never  have  produced  a  Shakespeare.  Its  fantastic  but  fascinating 
nature  may  be  inferred  from  the  story  of  the  slanga-pig,  which  had 
the  magical  power  of  being  alive  again  and  in  good  condition  after 
it  had  been  killed  and  eaten.  The  story  of  the  banquet  of  Dun  na 
n-Gedh,  which  led  to  the  battle  of  Magh  Rath,  shows  likewise  in 
every  line  the  effervescent  spirit  of  these  early  inhabitants  of  Britain. 
It  is,  in  brief,  as  follows: 


THE  SAXONS  21 

"  There  were  no  eggs  for  that  banquet,  and  eggs  were  scarce. 
Those  sent  in  search  of  them  carried  off  a  tub  of  goose-eggs  belonging 
to  a  holy  man,  whose  custom  was  to  spend  the  day  in  the  Boyne  up 
to  his  arm-pits  praying  from  his  Psalter  open  on  the  shore  before 
him  and  then  go  home  and  dine  on  an  egg  and  a  half  and  three  cresses. 
When  this  saint  found  his  eggs  gone  he  cursed  the  banquet  as  power- 
fully as  he  could.  Unfortunately  one  of  the  guests  cracked  an  egg 
without  waiting  for  grace  to  be  said.  Thence  came  a  great  crack  in 
the  peace  of  Ireland,  though  the  king  summoned  the  twelve  apostles 
of  Erin  to  bless  and  consecrate  it.  They  came  and  each  brought  a 
hundred  saints  and  they  said  grace  powerfully  but  they  could  not 
avert  the  curse  because  one  greedy  guest  had  tasted  of  the  feast 
before  it  had  been  blest. 

"  At  the  banquet  there  were  two  remarkable  guests,  a  woman 
and  a  man.  Each  limb  of  their  limbs  was  larger  than  the  summit  of 
a  rock  on  a  mountain,  sharper  than  a  shaving-knife  each  edge  of  their 
shins.  Their  heels  and  hams  were  in  front  of  them.  Had  a  sackful 
of  apples  been  thrown  on  their  heads  not  one  of  them  would  have 
fallen  to  the  ground,  for  they  would  have  stuck  on  the  points  of  their 
strong  bristly  hair.  A  lock  of  the  lower  beard  went  up  over  the 
head  and  a  lock  of  the  upper  beard  went  down  over  the  knees;  the 
woman  had  whiskers  and  the  man  had  none.  They  carried  a  basket 
of  goose-eggs  and  informed  the  king  that  they  brought  them  as  their 
share  of  the  banquet.  Meat  and  ale  for  three  hundred  was  then 
set  before  them.  When  they  had  consumed  it,  they  said,  '  Give  us 
food.'  '  You  can  have  no  more,'  said  the  steward,  '  till  the  men  of 
Erin  join  in  the  feast.'  '  It  shall  be  an  evil  feast  for  them,'  they 
answered  and  vanished. 

"■  A  goose-egg  was  then  set  on  a  silver  dish  before  every  king  in 
the  house,  but  when  the  dish  and  egg  were  placed  before  Congal, 
who  was  the  greedy  one  who  had  broken  his  fast  before  grace,  the 
silver  dish  changed  to  a  wooden  dish  and  the  goose-egg  to  the  egg  of 
a  red-feathered  hen.  And  one  of  Congal 's  followers  urged  him  to 
resent  the  insult,  until  his  bird  Of  valor  fluttered  over  him  and  he 
struck  at  friend  and  foe." 


^^  ENGLISH  LITERATURE    . 

The  nature  of  the  Roman  influence  on  British  life  may  be  to 
some  extent  inferred  from  the  words  which  they  brought  into  the 
country.  ''  Street,"  "  wine,"  ''  butter,"  "  pepper,"  "  cheese,"  "  silk," 
"  alum,"  "  pound,"  "  inch,"  "  mile,"  and  "  mint  "  are  all  of  Latin 
origin  and  probably  found  their  way  into  British  speech  during  the 
Roman  occupation.  In  Chester  and  Manchester  we  still  possess  the 
Roman  word  castra,  which  means  camp.  To  this  same  class  of  words 
belong  likewise  a  number  of  church  terms—"  bishop,"  "  candle," 
"  creed,"  "  font,"  "  mass,"  ''  monk,"  and  ''  priest."  The  names  of 
the  months  are  all  Roman.  "  January  "  comes  from  Januarius,  which 
is  derived  from  janua,  "  door,"  and  has  obviously  given  us  the  word 
"janitor";  "February"  from  jebriiare,  "to  purify";  "March" 
from  "  Mars  ";  "  April  "  from  "  Aphrodite  ";  "  May  "  from  "  Maia  "; 
"  June  "  from  "  Juno  ";  "  July  "  from  "  Julius  "  Caesar;  "  August  " 
from  his  successor  "Augustus";  "September"  from  septem, 
"seven";  "October"  from  octo,  "eight";  "November"  from 
novcm,  "  nine  ";  and  "  December  "  from  decern,  "  ten."  In  all  about 
400  Latin  words  became  fixed  in  the  British  Isles  during  the  first 
thousand  years  of  the  Christian  era. 

On  the  other  hand,  very  few  Celtic  words  have  passed  over  into 
English.  Up  to  the  twelfth  century  probably  not  more  than  twenty 
of  these  in  all  had  become  a  part  of  our  ancestors'  speech.  Among 
our  common  words  of  Celtic  origin  are  "  brag,"  "  brat,"  "  brawl," 
"bump,"  "dad,"  "dagger,"  "fun,"  "gridiron,"  "jag,"  "job," 
"  lad,"  "  lass,"  "  mug,"  "  nap,"  and  "  pet." 

Early  in  the  fifth  century,  that  is  to  say,  in  410  a.d.,  the  Romans, 
hard  pressed  on  the  continent  by  the  Goths,  withdrew  their  last 
legion  from  Britain.  The  Celts  who  had  submitted  to  their  domina- 
tion were  almost  immediately  attacked  and  finally  well  nigh  over- 
whelmed by  their  more  warlike  kinsmen,  the  Scots  of  Ireland  and  the 
Picts  who  lived  beyond  the  Roman  wall.  To  these  were  soon  added 
a  swarm  of  pirates  belonging  to  three  Teutonic  tribes  who  dwelt  in 
that  district  of  southern  Denmark  which  is  now  called  Schleswig. 
These  tribes,  all  closely  related  in  manner,  blood,  and  speech,  were 
then  known  as  Jutes,  Angles,  and  Saxons. 


THE  SAXONS  23 

In  an  unhappy  moment  for  themselves  the  British  leaders  decided 
to  try  to  save  their  country  by  inviting  these  freebooters  to  join  with 
them  against  the  Picts  and  Scots.  Accordingly,  in  449  a.d.,  there 
landed  at  Ebbsfleet,  in  the  Island  of  Thanet,  a  band  of  warriors  from 
Jutland,  with  their  leaders,  Hengist  and  Horsa,  at  their  head.  With 
this  event  begins  English  history.  "  No  spot  of  English  ground," 
says  John  Richard  Green,  "  should  be  so  sacred  to  Englishmen  as 
that  which  first  felt  the  print  of  English  feet." 

The  race  which  was  thus  introduced  into  the  British  Isles  must 
have  appeared  to  the  Celts  to  be  singularly  undesirable.  They  be- 
longed to  the  same  Low  German  family  as  the  modern  Dutch.  In  their 
continental  home  they  seem  to  have  been  plain  farmers  until  poverty, 
the  aggressions  of  their  neighbors,  growth  in  population,  or  love  of 
adventure  led  them  to  adopt  the  vocation  of  piracy.  In  this  gentle 
art  their  success  had  been  rapid  and  complete.  Huge  in  bulk,  of 
matchless  strength,  pitiless,  and  daring  beyond  measure,  they  speedily 
became  the  scourge  and  terror  of  the  sea.  Their  capacity  for  food 
and  drink  excited  the  wonder  and  disgust  of  strangers.  In  religion 
they  were  pagans.  The  main  features  of  their  crude  theology  are 
preserved  in  the  names  by  which  we  designate  the  days  of  the  week. 
As  "  Sunday  "  and  "  Monday  "  signify,  they  must  at  some  time  have 
worshipped  the  sun  and  moon.  In  "  Tuesday  "  is  preserved  the  name 
of  Tiw,  the  dark  God,  to  meet  whom  was  death.  "  Wednesday  "  is 
the  day  of  Wodin,  the  Teutonic  Mars;  "  Thursday  "  of  Thor,  the 
God  of  Thunder;  "  Friday  "  of  Frea,  the  northern  Venus,  the  goddess 
of  peace  and  joy  and  f ruitf ulness ;  "  Saturday  "  of  Saetere,  a  water 
deity  to  whom  it  was  natural  that  these  primitive  people,  dwelling  as 
they  did  in  a  land  surrounded  by  the  sea  and  saturated  by  almost 
constant  mist  and  rain,  should  pay  marked  homage. 

Rough  as  they  were,  however,  these  Anglo-Saxons  possessed  cer- 
tain virtues  which  were  destined  to  make  them  in  many  respects  the 
most  remarkable  and  most  powerful  race  in  the  world.  For  courage 
and  solidity  they  have  never  been  surpassed.  No  other  race  has 
equalled  their  genius  for  practical  affairs.  As  colonizers,  as  seamen, 
as  warriors,  and  as  farmers  they  have  outstripped  all  of  their  rivals. 


24  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Though  often  characterized  as  slow  of  thought  and  dull  of  fancy,  the 
Saxon's  leading  mental  feature,  says  James  Russell  Lowell,  is  common 
sense,  understanding.  "  His  genius  is  his  solidity.  ,  .  ,  He  is 
healthy,  in  no  danger  of  liver-complaint,  with  digestive  apparatus 
of  amazing  force  and  precision.  He  is  the  best  farmer  and  best 
grazier  among  men,  raises  the  biggest  crops  and  the  fattest  cattle, 
and  consumes  proportionate  quantities  of  both.  He  settles  and 
sticks  like  a  diluvial  deposit  on  the  warm,  low-lying  levels,  physical 
and  moral.  He  has  a  prodigious  talent,  to  use  our  Yankee  phrase,  of 
staying  put.  You  cannot  move  him;  he  and  rich  earth  have  a  natural 
sympathy  of  cohesion.  Not  quarrelsome,  but  with  indefatigable 
durability  of  light  in  him,  sound  of  stomach,  and  not  too  refined  in 
nervous  texture,  he  is  capable  of  indefinitely  prolonged  punishment, 
with  a  singularly  obtuse  sense  of  propriety  in  acknowledging  himself 
beaten.  Among  all  races  perhaps  none  has  shown  so  acute  a  sense 
of  the  side  on  which  his  bread  is  buttered,  and  so  great  a  repugnance 
for  having  fine  phrases  take  the  place  of  the  butyraceous  principle. 
They  invented  the  words  '  hum-bug,'  '  cant,'  '  sham,'  '  gag,'  '  soft- 
sodder,'  '  flap-doodle,'  and  other  disenchanting  formulas  whereby  the 
devil  of  falsehood  and  unreality  gets  his  apage  Santana!  " 

This  Saxon  genius  for  the  practical  rather  than  the  ideal  led 
Washington  Irving  to  satirize  the  American  devotion  to  the  Almighty 
Dollar  and  Napoleon  to  sneer  at  the  English  as  a  nation  of  shop- 
keepers; but  it  has  also  proved  the  salvation  on  more  than  one 
occasion  of  English  and  American  liberty  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
because  it  has  created  wealth  and  because  it  has  made  the  citizens  of 
both  nations  unwilling  to  allow  anybody  but  their  own  representatives 
to  spend  that  wealth.  It  was  apparent  in  some  of  the  provisions 
inserted  in  1216  at  Runnymede  in  the  Great  Charter.  It  appeared 
again  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  at  Philadelphia  in  1 776.  It 
enabled  William  HI  to  defy  Louis  XIV.  It  broke  the  power  of 
France  in  America  and  in  India.  It  overthrew  Napoleon.  Nor  is 
its  operation  yet  at  an  end.  Within  the  memory  of  many  men  and 
women  who  are  still  young  the  world  has  seen  these  irresistible  Saxon 
traits  add  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico  to  the  domains  of  the 


THE  SAXONS  25 

United  States  and  annex  to  the  British  crown  vast  territories  in  Africa. 

The  Saxon's  idea  of  government  was  all  his  own.  The  theory 
on  which  every  other  modern  commonwealth  up  to  the  nineteenth 
century  rested  was  that  all  authority  flowed  downward  from  the 
king.  The  Saxon  believed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  all  governments 
derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  When 
he  came  to  England  he  had  no  king.  Though,  in  the  course  of  time, 
he  was  forced  to  submit  to  many  masters,  he  did  not  give  up  this 
conception.  In  1688  he  saw  its  complete  triumph  in  England.  In 
1776  it  freed  America.  In  1793  it  freed  France.  In  1848  it 
triumphed  in  Germany.  In  1906  it  broke  down  the  barriers  of 
despotism  in  Russia.  It  has  regenerated  Japan,  Turkey,  and  Persia. 
And  it  bids  fair  to  go  on  making  headway  until  the  little  seed  of 
liberty  that,  previous  to  449  a.d.,  grew  only  among  the  mists  of 
Denmark  shall  have  revolutionized  all  the  governments  of  the  earth. 

The  language  which  the  Saxons  brought  to  England,  though  in  all 
essentials  the  language  which  we  speak  to-day,  to  a  superficial  ob- 
server is  likely  to  seem  more  closely  allied  to  German  than  to  English. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  dialect  of  German.  To  master  it  is  for  us  as  difficult 
as  it  is  to  learn  German.  Like  German,  and  unlike  English,  it  is 
inflectional;  that  is,  it  has  all  of  the  cumbersome  declensions,  gender 
distinctions,  and  conjugations  which  characterize  German,  but  from 
which  English  is  free.  A  reasonably  clear  idea  of  what  it  was  like 
may  be  obtained  from  an  inspection  of  the  following  version  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  which  was  probably  written  about  700  a.d.: 

Thu  lire  Fader,  the  eart  on  heofenum, 

Si  thin  noman  gehalgod. 

Cume  thin  rice. 

Si  thin  Willa  on  earthan  twa  on  heofenum; 

Syle  us  todag  orne  daegwanlican  hiaf, 

And  forgif  us  ure  gyUer 

Swa  we  forgifath  tham  the  with  us  agylthat ; 

And  ne  laed  thu  na  us  on  kostnunge ; 

Ac  alys  us   fronn  yfele.     Si  bit  swa. 

In  1915,  in  the  "  Phonographic  Word  Book,"  there  appeared  the 
statement  that  the  25  words  that  follow  constitute  one-quarter  of  all 
the  English  that  is  spoken  or  written: 


26 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


I. 

The 

ID. 

It 

19. 

Not 

2. 

And 

II. 

He 

20. 

Or 

3- 

Of 

12. 

With 

21. 

As 

4- 

To 

13- 

Be 

22. 

They 

5- 

In 

14. 

Are 

23- 

From 

6. 

A 

15- 

But 

24. 

Have 

7- 

That 

16. 

I 

25- 

At 

8. 

Is 

17- 

All 

9- 

For 

18. 

By 

If  to  these  be  added  the  41  words  listed  below,  these  two  lists, 
66  words  in  all,  will  constitute  one-third  of  all  the  words  we  use: 


I. 

They 

10. 

On 

2. 

Our 

II. 

Shall 

3- 

We 

12. 

You 

4- 

God 

13. 

Will 

5- 

More 

14. 

Thou 

6. 

Their 

15. 

Upon 

7- 

Them 

16. 

Word 

8. 

There 

17- 

Ye 

9- 

My 

18. 

Had 

19.  Me 

20.  No 

21.  Lord 

22.  Us 

23.  When 

24.  An 

25.  Go 

26.  Heaven 

27.  See 


28.  Great 

29.  Other 

30.  Were 

31.  Been 

32.  O 

33.  Part 

34.  T'ruth 
3S-  Any 
36.  Ever 


27-  Full 
2,9,.  Into 

39.  Out 

40.  Unto 

41.  Thee 


If  to  these  two  lists  we  add  the  33  words  that  appear  below,  the 
three  lists  will  contain  one-half  of  all  the  words  that  we  use: 


I. 

His 

12. 

Can 

2?,. 

Every 

2. 

Which 

13- 

Would 

24. 

World 

3- 

Your 

14- 

Love 

25- 

Do 

4- 

This 

15- 

Man 

26. 

One 

5- 

How 

16. 

Than 

27. 

After 

6. 

Has 

17- 

]\Iay 

28. 

Now 

7- 

What 

18. 

Those 

29. 

Where 

8. 

At 

19. 

Most 

30. 

Time 

9- 

If 

20. 

First 

31- 

Give 

10. 

Who 

21. 

LTnder 

32. 

Him 

II. 

Like 

22. 

Work 

2,3- 

Life 

It  should  be  added  that  the  words  are  arranged  in  the  order  of 
their  frequency;  that  is,  "  the  "  occurs  most  often  and  "  life  "  least. 

WTiile  these  statements  may  not  be  entirely  accurate,  they  are 
no  doubt  substantially  correct.  For  our  present  purpose,  their  signifi- 
cance lies  in  the  fact  that,  of  these  99  words,  all,  with  the  single 
exception  of  "  part,"  are  of  Saxon  origin.  In  addition,  the  grammar 
of  English  is  almost  exclusively  Saxon. 

The  fact  that  the  English  have  clung  so  tenaciously  to  their  orig- 


THE  SAXONS  ^7 

inal  language  is  a  result  of  the  solidity  of  which  Lowell  speaks.  They 
will  not,  perhaps  cannot,  learn  foreign  languages  except  under  the 
spur  of  sharp  necessity.  The  foreigner  who  wishes  to  communicate 
with  them  must  learn  English. 

When  they  landed  at  Ebbsfleet,  they  already  possessed  a  litera- 
ture, if  that  can  be  called  a  literature  which  was  not  written  but 
transmitted  by  word  of  mouth.  From  the  fragments  of  this  literature 
which  still  exist,  Henry  Morley  has  re-created  for  us  a  picture  of  the 
life  of  an  early  Saxon  Scop,  or  Poet.  He  wanders  from  land  to  land. 
He  sees  cities  and  men.  He  feels  the  same  pangs  of  jealousy  that 
annoy  more  modern  bards.  To  him,  as  to  them,  fame  is  the  last 
infirmity  of  a  noble  mind.  The  best  and  happiest  moments  of  his 
life  are  experienced  when,  harp  in  hand,  he  chants  in  the  mead  hall 
before  an  audience  of  warlike  chiefs,  who  listen  greedily  to  his  songs 
and  reward  him  with  applause  and  ale. 

We  can  imagine  the  hall  in  which  these  triumphs  took  place  as 
being  200  feet  by  40  in  area,  with  a  high  roof  and  curved  gables. 
At  the  front  is  a  porch,  at  the  rear  a  structure  that  forms  cellar  and 
pantry.  The  hall  itself  consists  of  a  wide  nave  with  narrow  side- 
aisles.  Pillars  divide  aisles  from  nave  and  support  the  central  roof. 
Down  the  middle  of  the  nave  run  stone  hearths,  upon  which  blaze 
great  timber  fires.  At  the  upper  end,  at  a  cross-bench,  is  the  raised 
seat  of  the  king  and  his  chief  retainers.  On  each  side  of  the  long  hearth 
there  is  a  table,  at  which  sit  the  warriors.  Back  of  the  rows  of  pillars 
are  spaces  for  sleeping  and  storing  the  gilded  vats  of  liquor  into 
which  are  dipped  the  pails  of  the  cup-bearers.  In  such  a  hall  were 
enacted  the  chief  scenes  and  in  such  a  hall  were  chanted  the  stirring 
verses  of  "  Beowulf,"  the  greatest  of  the  Saxon  poems  that  have  come 
down  to  our  day. 

Beowulf  is  an  epic  of  3178  lines.  It  may  have  originated  in  part 
before  the  landing  at  Ebbsfleet,  though  in  its  present  form  it  contains 
references  to  events  that  happened  as  late  as  520  a.d.  and  Christian 
passages  which  could  hardly  have  been  written  prior  to  600  a.d. 
For  many  centuries  it  was  forgotten  until,  in  1705,  a  single  copy  was 
discovered  in  the  British  Museum.    Finally,  in  1815,  a  Danish  scholar 


28  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

named  Thorkelin  printed  it  and  made  it  one  of  the  most  prized  of 
English  poems. 

The  story  of  Beowulf  is  as  follows: 

O  say,  have  you  heard  of  the  ijpear-Danes'  dominion? 
How  Scyld  Scefing  reft  from  his  foes  their  mead-benches? 
That  was  a  good  king,  that  lord  of  the  whale-road. 

Hrothgar,  the  son  of  his  grandson,  was  likewise 
A  great  giver  of  rings.     He  made  him  a  mead-hall. 
Which  he  hight  Heorot,  which  meaneth  the  hart's  house. 
Here  there  was  joy;  here  the  song  of  the  glee-man. 
Till  a  demon  named  Grendel,  who  came  in  the  night-time, 
After  the  beer-drinking,  from  the  mists  of  the  marshland, 
Took  thirty  tJiancs  and  devoured  them  exulting.  [nobles\ 

For  twelve  years  thereafter  the  great  hall  stood  idle; 
So  long  in  the  land  raged  the  merciless  monster ; 
So  long  did  the  heart  of  the  king  ache  with  anguish. 

Then  Beowulf,  thane  of  the  Geats,  heard  of  Grendel, 
And  straight  on  the  swan-road  with  fifteen  companions 
Embarked  in  a  foamy-necked  floater,  a  sea-wood, 
That  flew  like  a  fowl  for  a  day  on  the  billows. 
Till  it  came  to  the  shores  where  languished  good  Hrothgar. 

In  Heorot  then  the  helm  of  the  Scyldings 
Unlocked  his  word-hoard  and  welcomed  the  warriors 
With  mead  and  with  melody,  pleased  at  the  proffer 
That  Beowulf  brought  to  demolish  the  demon. 

When  the  feastmg  was  finished,  the  Spear-Danes  departed, 
And  Beowulf  boimd  in  the  shackles  of  slumber, 
Grendel  came  groping,  brake  open  the  hall-mouth. 
Seized  hold  of  a  sleeper,  bit  into  his  bone-case. 
Drank  the  blood  from  his  veins,  and  bolted  the  body. 
Then,  as  Beowulf  slept,  he  laid  hold  of  the  hero. 
But  he  found  his  claw  clutched  by  a  hand-grip  gigantic. 
For  Beowulf's  strength  was  as  thirty  stout  spear-men's. 
The  lofty  hall  rocked,  though  with  iron-bands  builded ; 
A  fearful  wound  showed  in  the  shoulder  of  Grendel; 
Apart  sprang  the  sinews:  burst  was  his  bone-frame; 
Back  to  his  bogs  fled  th^  fiend  death-stricken, 
While  Beowulf  laid  down  the  hand,  arm,  and  shoulder 
Of  Grendel  the  grim  in  the  midst  of  the  mead-hall. 

Then  Hrothgar  rewarded  with  gold  and  with  horses 
The  deed  of  the  hero ;  the  bard  touched  the  glee-wood. 
And  the  hall  joy  arose  along  the  mead-l)enches. 
Wealthow,  the  queen,  brought  beer  to  the  hero. 
And  all  for  a  day  of  IVyrd  were  regardless.  [Fate] 

But  with  night  came  revengeful  the  mother  of  Grendel, 
Slew  in  her  sorrow  Hrothgar's  friend  Aeschere, 
And  fled  to  the  fens  with  the  claw  of  her  Grendel. 

Then  Beowulf  spake  in  this  wise  to  wise  Hrothgar: 
"  Revenging  a  wrong  is  more  goodly  than  grieving ; 
Let  us  follow."     They  went  to  a  sea  dark  with  dragons, 
Pursuing  the  path  of  the  perilous  monster 


THE  SAXONS 


29 


There  Beowulf  bound  on  his  back  his  war-burnie,  [armor] 

And,  taking  in  hand  his  hafted  sword  Hrunting, 

He  dropped  for  a  day  through  the  wash  of  the  waters. 

The  water-wife  saw  and  seized  at  the  bottom 

The  hero's  war-sark,  but  the  ring-bedecked  Hrunting  [armor] 

Sang  loud  on  her  head  his  greedy  war-music. 

But  Beowulf  stumbled  and  straightway  had  perished 

Had  not  God  sustained  and  found  him   fresh   footing. 

He  was  dragged  nathclcss  to  her  home  in  the  hollows,  [nevertheless] 

Where  his  hope  of  return  waxed  wan  as  they  struggled, 

Until  he  espied  an  old  sword  of  eotcns  [giants] 

And  seized  it  aad  smote  on  her  neck  through  the  bone-rings. 

Thus  died  the  demon  ;  then  his  gaze  fell  on  Grendel 

And  he  hewed  off  the  head  from  the  limbs  that  lay  lifeless, 

But  so  hot  was  the  blood  that  the  sword-blade  was  melted 

Likest  to  snow  when  the  Father  unbindeth 

The  fetters  of  frost  that  the  winter  has  welded. 

Thereafter  the  hero  had  honor  unstinted, 
For  fifty  years  ruling  the  people  of  Jutland, 

Till  evil  arrived  in  the  form  of  a  fire-drake,  [dragon] 

Fearsome,  unfriendly,  an  old  twiliglit-spoiler. 

One  of  Beowulf's  slaves  stole  a  cup  from  his  gold-hoard, 
And  the   dragon,   revengeful,    harried   his   people. 

Till  the  king  rich  in  honor  came  to  his  cavern.  [Beomulf] 

Forth   from  its  arch  blew  the  breath  of  the  monster, 
The  coiling-one  came,  and  fled  from  his  fury 
All  the  king's  comrades  except  only  Wiglaf. 
Burned  to  the  boss  was  the  shield  of  young  Wiglaf ; 

Neigling  was  broken  ;  old  and  gray-headed,  [big  sword] 

Beowulf  found  in  his  sword  no  salvation. 
The  fangs  of  the  worm  seized  the  throat  of  the  hero; 
And  welled  forth  in  waves  Beowulf's  life-blood. 
But  Wiglaf  was  worthy ;  his  sword  smote  the  dragon 
And  Beowulf's  dagger  divided  the  demon. 

Kinsmen  and  athelings,  they  cast  forth  his  spirit.  [princes] 

Thus  Beowulf  perished,  undaunted,  unvanquished. 

The  metre  of  Beowulf  is  based  on  alliteration,  instead  of  rhyme. 
Each  line  has  four  accented  syllables  and  one  alliterative  letter.  This 
verse-form  persisted  until  Chaucer's  day  as  the  standard  of  English 
poetry  and  it  has  been  revived  in  our  own  by  Tennyson  in  "  Merlin 
and  the  Gleam  "  and  in  the  "  Battle  of  Brunanburgh." 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  interpret  the  story  of  Beowulf. 
Professor  Skeat  argues  that  Grendel  was  a  bear.  His  name  means 
grinder  of  bones.  He  never  uses  weapons,  but  trusts  to  his  grip, 
the  bear's  hug.  He  is  solitary  and  an  excellent  swimmer,  as  are  bears. 
Like  them,  he  seeks  his  food  at  night  and  always  returns  to  his  lair. 
Beowulf's  dive  to  reach  Grendel 's  mother  was  his  swim  across  to  the 


30  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

bear's  cave.     Neither  Grendel  nor  his  mother  speaks.    Beowulf  (bee- 
wolf)  means  bear,  the  hero  being  so  named  because  he  slew  bears. 

Henry  Morley  says  that  Professor  Skeat's  etymology  is  sound  and 
his  arguments  ingenious  but  that  he  does  not  believe  Grendel  was  a 
beast  except  in  his  behavior.  He  thinks  that  a  chief's  power  in 
battle  is  poetically  typified  by  putting  the  power  of  thirty  men  into  his 
hand-grip.  Hrothgar  is  attacked  by  a  foreign  foe  from  oversea,  who 
is  lost  under  the  image  of  a  superhuman  monster,  Grendel.  The  drop 
of  a  day  into  the  sea  is  plainly  a  journey  of  a  day  to  the  other  shore 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  war  into  the  enemy's  territory. 

Some  German  critics  suggest  *hat  Grendel  is  a  mist  that  causes 
malaria,  in  which  case  Beowulf  may  be  a  wind  that  drives  the  mist 
away.  Morley  says  of  this  idea:  "  Here  let  us  pause.  Enough  of 
rain  and  mist.  One  more  of  these  ingenious  turns  of  the  mythologic 
screw  might  convert  Beowulf  into  the  myth  of  a  mining  engineer  if 
not  of  a  drainpipe." 

At  all  events,  Beowulf  is  an  excellent  story  and  as  it  stands  gives 
us  a  noble  picture  of  the  Saxons  who  came  to  England  in  449  a.d. 
They  were  not  slow  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  their  Celtic  allies.  Then 
began  a  struggle  for  the  control  of  the  island  which,  so  far  as  the  low 
and  fertile  portions  are  concerned,  resulted  practically  in  the  exter- 
mination of  the  Celtic  population.  The  survivors  were  pushed  back 
into  the  mountains  of  Wales  and  Scotland.  But  it  was  a  slow  process. 
It  lasted  on  and  off  for  over  200  years.  Traces  of  its  bitterness  still 
exist  in  the  cordial  hatred  which  certain  Scotch,  Welsh,  and  Irish 
gentlemen  to  this  day  entertain  for  the  English. 

Among  the  misty  figures  of  that  fierce  struggle,  itself  a  mist  and  a 
myth,  moves  the  form  of  the  Welsh  king,  Arthur,  the  hero  of  Tenny- 
son's "  Idylls  of  the  King.''  This  series  of  poems  is  fairly  entitled  to  be 
called  the  great  national  epic  of  the  English  people.  No  student 
of  English  literature  can  afford  to  omit  reading  it.  It  is  best  to 
read  it  at  this  point  in  the  story,  as  familiarity  with  it  will  in  some 
measure  give  life  and  definite  color  to  the  study  of  this  period. 

In  597  A.D.  occurred  an  event  which  did  much,  no  doubt,  to  soften 
the  ferocity  of  this  struggle.     A  Roman  monk  named  Augustine 


THE  SAXONS  31 

began  the  process  of  converting  the  Saxons  to  Christianity  and,  once 
begun,  the  work  was  pushed  with  fervor  and  success.  The  student 
who  wishes  to  gain  a  vivid  idea  of  some  of  the  experiences  of  these 
early  missionaries  should  read  Rudyard  Kipling's  charming  story, 
the  "  Conversion  of  St.  Wilfrid." 

By  664  their  work  had  progressed  so  far  that  we  find  at  Whitby 
a  great  monastery  and  a  great  English  poet  named  Caedmon  devoting 
his  genius  to  the  teaching  of  Christian  doctrine.  How  he  came  to 
write  is  told  by  the  Venerable  Bede  in  a  passage  which  perhaps  has 
been  quoted  as  often  as  any  that  an  English  historian  has  written: 

"  His  power  of  song  was  the  gift  of  God.  He  could  never  com- 
pose any  idle  or  false  song.  Up  to  an  advanced  age  he  had  never  com- 
posed any  poetry.  As  he  often  attended  feasts  where  all  of  the  guests 
in  turn  were  expected  to  take  the  harp  and  sing,  whenever  he  saw 
the  harp  come  near  him  he  arose  out  of  shame  and  went  home.  On 
one  of  these  occasions,  he  retired  to  the  stables,  as  he  had  charge  of 
the  horses  for  that  night.  When  after  a  time  he  slept,  a  man  appeared 
to  him  in  a  dream  and  said:  '  Caedmon,  sing  me  something.'  '  I 
cannot,'  replied  Caedmon.  '  You  are  mistaken,'  said  the  man.  '  You 
can  sing.'  '  What  shall  I  sing?  '  '  Sing  to  me  the  beginnings  of  all 
things!  '  On  receiving  this  answer,  Caedmon  began  to  sing,  in  praise 
of  God  the  Creator,  verses  and  words  which  he  had  never  heard. 
When  he  arose  from  his  sleep  he  had  firmly  fixed  in  his  memory  all 
that  he  had  sung  while  asleep." 

Thus  Caedmon  discovered  his  poetic  gift.  The  rest  of  his  life 
apparently  was  devoted  solely  to  its  exercise  in  the  cause  of  religion. 
His  chief  works  are  paraphrases  of  the  books  of  Genesis,  Exodus,  and 
Daniel,  written  in  the  same  metrical  form  as  Beowulf  and  evidently 
designed,  like  Beowulf,  to  be  chanted  at  feasts.  Their  value  as  a 
means  of  familiarizing  the  people  with  the  gospels  in  that  unlettered 
age  must  have  been  immense.  A  more  artfully  sugar-coated  literary 
pill  has  seldom  been  administered  to  a  nation  in  need  of  spiritual 
regeneration.  Caedmon  did  on  a  large  scale  indeed  |or  his  age 
exactly  what  Lew  Wallace  with  his  "  Ben-Hur  "  has  done  for  ours.  He 
put  the  stories  of  the  Bible  into  the  literary  form  which  was  fitted  to 


32 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


impress,  entertain,  and  instruct  the  largest  number  of  his  contem- 
poraries. 

His  success  was  unquestionable.  We  have  the  testimony  of 
Bede  that  it  was  so  great  as  to  produce  a  host  of  imitators.  Though 
it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  he  was  as  great  a  genius  as  the  masters 
of  English  verse  who  wrote  in  later  ages,-  he  must  be  regarded  as  a 
genuine  poet  of  no  mean  power.     It  is  possible  that,  a  thousand  years 


Expulsion  of  Adam  and  Eve  from  Paradise 

From  the  Caedmon  MS  CTenth  Century).     The  courtesy  of  the  Macmillan  Company,  from 
"English  Literature,  An  Illustrated  Record" 

hence,  when  our  language  has  become  obsolete,  his  name  will  stand 
as  high  in  the  temple  of  fame  as  those  of  Longfellow  or  Lowell.  His 
subject  in  some  respects  resembles  that  of  "  Paradise  "     ^■'•?t 

printed  in   1655,  his  book  probably  was  familiar  to  i»    . 
published  his  great  epic  in  1667.    Probably  no  higher  praise  has  ever 
been  paid  to  Caedmon  than  the  charge  made  by  certain  critics  that 
in  "  Paradise  Lost  "  the  Puritan  poet  was  guilty  of  stealing  some 


THE  SAXONS  33 

passages  from  the  old  Saxon.  There  are  certainly  enough  resem- 
blances to  justify  the  title  which  has  been  given  Caedmon  of  the 
"  Anglo-Saxon  Milton."  As  Henry  Morley  finely  says:  "  We  have 
seen  in  Caedmon  one  green  shoot  from  the  tree  that  is  mounting 
Miltonward." 

In  his  biographer  Bede  we  see  a  worthy  forerunner  of  Gibbon  and 
Carlyle.  He  was  born  about  673  at  Jarrow;  at  seven  years  of  age 
was  given  to  Abbot  Benedict  to  be  educated  in  the  monastery  there; 
and  there  spent  all  the  rest  of  his  life  in  studying  and  in  writing  Latin 
prose. 

Though  Bede  wrote  in  Latin,  his  motives  and  ideas  are  as  English 
as  Caedmon's.  As  we  have  seen,  the  common  people  in  his  day  could 
be  reached  only  by  oral  means.  Verse  being  easier  to  remember 
than  prose,  we  find  our  oldest  English  literature  in  verse.  But  the 
number  of  educated  people  who  could  read  English  was  small  and  the 
number  of  complicated  ideas  that  could  be  preserved  orally  was  not 
great.  The  same  situation  existed  at  this  time  throughout  Europe. 
At  the  same  time  throughout  Europe  the  monks,  who  were  the  only 
educated  class,  were  all  able  to  write  and  read  Latin.  It  was,  there- 
fore, a  kind  of  accident,  but  a  perfectly  natural  accident,  that  Bede, 
English  as  was  his  temper,  should  choose  Latin  as  his  vehicle  of 
expression.     In  no  other  way  could  he  get  an  audience  for  his  prose. 

It  must  be  remembered  also  that,  though  the  greatest,  he  was 
by  no  means  the  only  writer  of  Latin  in  his  age.  There  was  a  host 
of  others.  Fashion  doubtless  had  some  influence  in  his  choice  of  a 
language. 

His  works  form  a  nearly  complete  encyclopaedia  of  the  knowledge 
of  his  day.  His  style  is  clear  and  simple,  his  object  being  to  teach. 
Among  his  subjects  are  grammar,  arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy, 
lives  of  saints,  Scriptural  commentary.  His  best-known  work  is, 
hQwever^i'  ''  Ecclesiastical  History  of  England."  It  is  really  a 
political  history  of  the  nation  during  the  period  when  the  chief  inter- 
est of  its  best  men  lay  in  the  diffusion  of  Christianity.  Its  chief  merit 
is  its  accuracy.  Bede  was  one  of  the  most  careful  of  historians. 
He  himself  says  to  his  reader:  "  If  you  shall  in  this  that  we  have 
3 


34  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

written  find  anything  not  delivered  according  to  the  truth,  we  beg 
that  you  will  not  impute  the  same  to  us,  who,  as  the  true  rule  of 
history  requires,  have  labored  sincerely  to  commit  to  writing  such' 
things  as  we  could  gather  from  common  report  for  the  instruction 
of  posterity." 

Bede  died  in  735  and  was  buried  at  Jarrow.  Thence  Elf  red,  a 
priest  of  Durham,  in  an  excess  of  hero-worship,  stole  his  bones.  In 
the  cathedral  of  Durham,  during  the  twelfth  century,  there  was  built 
over  them  a  beautiful  shrine  of  gold,  silver,  and  jewels.  In  the  days 
of  Henry  VIII  this  was  destroyed  and  the  bones  scattered  by  a  mob. 
The  mob  could  not,  however,  destroy  the  reputation  of  the  old  monk 
or  the  beautiful  legend  connected  with  the  title  by  which  he  is  best 
known.  A  pupil,  who  had  been  chosen  to  write  the  master's  epitaph, 
labored  in  vain  to  complete  the  Latin  hexameter  in  which  he  was  to 
say:  "  In  this  grave  are  the  bones  of  Bede."     He  fell  asleep  over  the 

unfinished  line — 

"  Hac  sunt  in  fossa,  Bedae     ossa." 

But  as  he  slept  an  angel  came  with  a  pen  of  light  and,  bending  over 
the  youth,  completed  the  line.    The  youth  awoke  and  read: 

"  Hac  sunt  in  fossa,  Bedae  Venerabilis  ossa." 

"  England,"  says  Henry  Morley,  "  has  ratified  the  title;  and  to  the 
end  of  time  his  countrymen  will  look  back  with  affectionate  honor  to 
the  sinless  student  life  of  the  Venerable  Bede." 

The  work  begun  by  Caedmon  was  carried  on  by  another  excellent 
poet,  Cynewulf.  Of  him  we  know  nothing  with  certainty  except  that 
he  must  be  the  author  of  four  poems,  since  he  marked  them  as  his 
own  by  the  insertion  of  his  name  in  the  old  Saxon  letters,  or  runes. 
This  fact  is  a  good  indication  of  his  half-pagan  character,  for,  though 
his  subjects  are  Christian  and  his  object  was  to  diffuse  Christianity, 
he  was  obviously  at  heart  a  fierce  viking,  as  fond  of  the  sea  as  is 
Rudyard  Kipling,  and,  like  Theodore  Roosevelt,  an  advocate  of  the 

strenuous  life. 

The  titles  of  his  four  poems  are  "  Crist,"  "  Juliana,"  "  The  Fates 
of  the  Apostles,"  and  "  Elene."  "  Crist  "  is  in  three  parts:  the 
advent  of  Christ  on  earth,  his  ascension,  and  his  second  advent.     The 


THE  SAXONS  35 

author's  half-pagan  attitude  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  he  says  that  one 
of  the  chief  joys  of  heaven  will  be  derived  from  witnessing  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  damned.  "  Juliana  "  is  the  story  of  a  Christian  martyr, 
who  overcomes  many  temptations,  including  an  offer  of  marriage  with 
a  pagan,  and,  finally,  having  routed  the  devil  in  person,  endures 
martyrdom  by  the  sword.  In  "  Elene,"  which  is  his  best  poem, 
Cynewulf  tells  how  Helena,  the  mother  of  the  Emperor  Constantine, 
discovered  the  true  cross.  Its  style  is  simple,  yet  dramatic,  and  it 
contains  passages  of  great  beauty.  The  pomp  of  war,  the  gleam  of 
jewels,  and  ships  dancing  on  the  waters  give  life  and  color  to  a  narra- 
tive permeated  with  a  deep  and  serious  purpose.  Several  other  poems 
which  may  have  been  written  by  Cynewulf  have  come  down  to  us. 
Of  these  "  Andreas,"  which  deals  with  St.  Andrew,  may  be  said  to 
represent  Christ  as  a  viking,  and  the  "  Dream  of  the  Rood  "  has  been 
described  by  M.  Bentinck  Smith  as  the  choicest  blossom  of  Old- 
English  Christian  poetry.  "  Religious  feeling,"  she  says,  "  has  never 
been  more  exquisitely  clothed  than  in  these  140  lines  of  alliterative 
verse." 

Cynewulf  belongs  to  a  later  school  than  Caedmon.  Both  are 
Christian  and  both  monkish;  both  in  many  respects  are  still  full  of 
the  pagan  spirit  of  Beowulf.  But  Cynewulf  is  more  self-conscious 
and  open  to  foreign  influence.  In  a  restricted  sense  Caedmon  may  be 
called  the  poet  of  the  Old  Testament,  Cynewulf  of  the  New. 

For  our  knowledge  of  Cynewulf's  poetry  we  are  indebted  to  two 
recently  discovered  books.  One  was  found  in  1822  in  a  monastery 
at  Vercelli  in  Italy  and  is  called  the  "  Vercelli  Book";  the  other, 
known  as  the  "  Exeter  Book,"  is  preserved  in  Exeter  Cathedral.  The 
poems  of  the  Vercelli  book  were  published  in  1840,  those  of  the 
"  Exeter  Book  "  in  1842. 

A  rude  interruption  came  about  787  to  the  pious  labors  which 
we  have  been  describing.  In  that  year  there  landed  on  the  east  coast 
of  England  a  party  of  Danes.  Letters,  arts,  and  religion  disappeared 
before  these  Northmen  as  before  the  Northmen  of  an  earlier  day. 
It  was  not  until  871,  when  Alfred  the  Great  became  King  of  Wessex, 
that  the  country  was  rescued  from  their  ravages.  Then,  however, 
land,  government,  and  people  reappeared  unchanged.    "  The  Danes 


36  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

were  really  Englishmen  bringing  back  to  an  England  that  had  for- 
gotten its  origin,"  says  John  Richard  Green,  "  the  barbaric  England 
of  its  pirate  forefathers."  For  this  reason  the  fusion  of  the  two 
people  was  easy  and  complete.  To  this  struggle  there  are  some  inter- 
esting allusions  in  Shakespeare's  "  Hamlet  ";  and  two  capital  modern 
novels,  "  The  Thrall  of  Leif  the  Lucky  "  and  "  The  Ward  of  King 
Canute,"  by  Miss  Ottilie  Liljencrantz,  picture  the  period  in  a  fashion 
that  makes  it  live  for  modern  readers. 

In  order  to  repair  the  intellectual  and  moral  ruin  wrought  by  the 
Danes,  King  Alfred  became  a  writer  of  English  prose  When  already 
a  man  and  a  king,  he  taught  himself  to  write  under  the  instruction  of  a 
priest  named  Asser.  Of  his  works,  only  one,  a  collection  of  notes  con- 
cerning English  history,  is  original ;  the  rest  are  translations.  He  has 
the  distinction,  indeed,  of  being  the  earliest  of  English  translators. 
Among  the  books  which  he  thus  gave  to  his  people  are  Boethius's 
"  Consolations  of  Philosophy,"  the  masterpiece  of  the  last  man  of 
genius  produced  by  Rome  and  one  of  the  noblest  treatises  on  right 
Hving  which  the  world  possesses;  "  The  Universal  History  of  Orosius, 
from  the  Creation  to  the  year  of  our  Lord  416  ";  Bede's  "  Ecclesiasti- 
cal History  ";  Pope  Gregory's  '"  Book  on  the  Care  of  the  Soul  ";  and 
an  abridgment  of  St.  Augustine's  "  Soliloquies."  These  are  not  literal 
translations.  Alfred  rendered  them  freely,  omitted  much,  and  occa- 
sionally added  matter  of  his  own. 

Beside  these  writings  of  Alfred,  there  is  a  collection  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  laws  which  is  not  without  interest.  From  a  few  of  them,  the 
amiable  character  of  our  ancestors  may  be  inferred: 

"  These  are  the  laws  King  Ethelbert  estabhshed  in  Augustine's 
day: 

8.  If  in  the  king's  town  any  one  a  man  slay,  50  shillings  shall 
be  paid. 

19.  If  a  highway  robbery  be  committed,  3  shillings  shall  be  paid. 

57.  If  a  man  beat  another  with  the  fist  on  the  nose,  3  shillings." 

We  may  also  congratulate  ourselves  on  the  fact  that  we  are  not 
dependent  upon  their  doctors  for  the  cure  of  our  wounds  or  upon 
their  agricultural  knowledge  for  our  food.  To  cure  a  broken  head, 
according  to  a  Saxon  herbarium  published  in  1864-6  by  the  Rev. 


THE    SAXONS  37 

Oswald  Cockayne,  they  were  advised  to  swallow  two  drachms  of 
powdered  betony  in  hot  beer.  Baldness  was  cured  by  putting  juice 
of  watercress  upon  the  nose.  A  hare's  brain  in  wine  was  a  remedy 
against  oversleeping.  Those  who  were  much  troubled  by  ghosts  could 
get  relief  by  eating  lion's  fiesh.  To  insure  good  crops  the  Saxon 
farmer  had  to  proceed  as  follows:  ( 1 )  Before  dawn  cut  four  sods  from 
the  corners  of  his  land;  (2)  put  in  each  hole  thus  made  oil,  honey, 
barm,  the  milk  of  every  kind  of  beast  and  the  leaves  of  every  kind 
of  tree  and  shrub  on  the  land;  (3)  drop  holy  water  thrice  on  the 
mixture;  (4)  say  in  Latin,  "  Grow — multiply — replenish  the  earth  "; 
(5)  say  his  Paternoster;  (6)  carry  the  four  sods  to  church  and  have 
four  masses  said  over  them ;  ( 7 )  carry  them  back  before  sunset  to  the 
places  whence  they  had  been  taken;  (8)  lay  them  again  in  their 
places;  (9)  set  up  four  crosses  inscribed  with  the  names  of  the  four 
evangehsts;  (10)  say  "  Grow — multiply — replenish  the  earth  "  nine 
times;  (11)  say  the  Paternoster  nine  times;  (12)  bow  nine  times  to 
the  earth;  (13)  repeat  a  charm  26  Hnes  long;  (14)  turn  himself 
round  three  times  in  the  direction  of  the  sun;  (15)  recite  the  names 
of  the  saints;  (16)  recite  the  Magnificat;  (17)  recite  three  more 
Paternosters;  (18)  recite  another  charm;  (19)  take  strange  seed  from 
a  priest,  giving  him  twice  as  much  in  return;  (20)  bore  a  hole  in  his 
plough-beam;  (21)  put  in  the  hole  incense,  fennel,  consecrated  soap, 
and  consecrated  salt;  (22)  put  the  seed  from  the  priest  on  the  body 
of  the  plough;  (23)  say  another  charm  30  lines  long;  (24)  say  a 
shorter  charm  while  the  plough  cut  its  first  furrow;  (25)  bake  a  loaf 
as  big  as  his  two  hands  would  hold,  having  put  into  it  flour  of  all 
grain  on  the  land,  with  milk  and  holy  water;  (26)  lay  the  loaf  under 
the  furrow;  (27)  say  another  charm  of  twelve  lines;  (28)  say  three 
more  Crescites;  (29)  say  three  more  Paternosters. 

From  these  curious  documents  we  can  infer  why  it  was  that 
Alfred's  attempts  to  educate  his  subjects  were  only  in  part  successful. 
After  his  death  in  900  the  Danes  also  returned  and  for  a  century 
blood  flowed,  the  sky  was  black  with  the  smoke  of  monastery  and 
farm,  and  literature  languished.  Practically  nothing  of  value  was 
written  during  that  time  except  portions  of  the  "Anglo-Saxon  Chron- 
icle."    This  work,  which  is  a  crude  record  of  the  history  of  the  island 


38  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

from  55  B.C.  to  1154  a.d.,  was  written  by  various  priests  in  various 
monasteries  in  various  generations.  It  is  of  immense  historical  im- 
portance and  no  small  literary  interest.  A  few  extracts  will  give  a 
better  idea  of  its  style  than  much  description  and  will  also  afford  a 
convenient  review  of  this  chapter: 

A.  47.  This  year  Claudius  conquered  the  greater  part  of  the  island. 

A,  i88.  This  year  Severus  built  a  rampart  of  turf  and  a  broad  wall 
thereon  from  sea  to  sea. 

A.  381.  This  year  Maximus,  the  emperor,  obtained  the  empire;  he  was 
born  in  Britain  and  went  thence  into  Gaul.  And  he  there  slew  the 
Emperor  Gratian.  And  Valentinian  afterwards  gathered  an  army  and  slew 
Maximus.      (See  Kipling's  stories,  already  cited,  P.  20.) 

A.  409.  Tbis  year  the  Goths  took  the  city  of  Rome  by  storm  and  after 
this  the  Romans  never  ruled  in  Britain. 

A.  449.  This  year  Hengist  and  Horsa,  invited  by  Vortigern,  king  of  the 
Britons,  landed  in  Britain.  Then  they  fought  against  the  Picts  and  had  the 
victory  wheresoever  they  came.  They  then  sent  to  the  Angles  and  de- 
sired a  larger  force  to  be  sent,  describing  to  them  the  worthlessness  of  the 
Britons  and  the  excellence  of  the  land.  At  that  time  there  came  men 
from  the  Saxons,  the  Angles,  and  the  Jutes.  From  the  Jutes  came  the 
Kentish  men.  From  the  Saxons  came  the  men  of  Essex,  Sussex,  and 
Wessex.  From  Anglia  came  the  men  of  East  Anglia,  Middle  Anglia, 
Mercia,  and  all  North-Humbria. 

A.  597.  This  year  Augustine  and  his  companions  came  to  the  land 
of   the  Angles. 

A.  773-  This  year  a  fiery  crucifix  appeared  in  the  heavens  after  sun- 
set ;  and  the  same  year  the  Mercians  and  the  Kentishmen  fought  at 
Oxford  ;  and  wondrous  adders  were  seen  in  the  land  of  the  South-Saxons. 

A.  787.  This  year  first  came  three  ships  of  Northmen  out  of  Haeretha 
land   (Denmark). 

A.  962.  This  year  the  great  fever  was  in  London  and  Paul's  minster 
was  burnt,  and  that  same  year  was  again  built  up. 

A.  995.  In  this  year  King  Edward  came  to  Westminster,  at  mid-winter, 
and  there  caused  to  be  consecrated  the  minster  which  himself  had  built 
to  the  glory  of  God  and  of  St.  Peter  and  of  all  God's  saints. 

A.  1087.  He  (King  William)  was  mild  to  those  good  men  who  loved 
God,  but  stark  to  those  who  withstood  him.  In  his  days  the  great 
monastery  at  Canterbury  was  built.  Among  other  things,  the  good  peace 
he  made  in  the  land  must  not  be  forgotten  ;  it  was  such  that  any  man 
with  a  bosom  full  of  gold  might  travel  over  the  kingdom  unmolested. 
He  surveyed  the  kingdom  so  thoroughly  that  there  was  not  a  single  hide 
of  land  of  which  he  knew  not  the  possessor  and  the  value.  .  .  .  He  made 
large  forests  for  the  deer  and  enacted  laws  therewith,  so  that  whoever 
killed  a  hart  or  a  hind  should  be  blinded.  .  .  .  He  loved  the  tall  stags 
as  if  he  were  their  father. 

A.  1093.  This  year,  in  Lent,  King  William  was  very  sick;  and  he  made 
many  good  promises  in  his  illness. 

A.  1094.  This  year  the  Scots  conspired  against  their  king,  Duncan, 
and  slew  him,  and  they  afterward  took  his  uncle,  Dufenal,  a  second  time, 


THE  SAXONS  39 

for  their  king,  through  whose  instructions  and  instigation  Duncan  had  been 
betrayed  to  his  death.     (See  Shakespeare's  "Macbctli.") 

A.  iioo.  This  year  King  William  was  shot  with  an  arrow  by  his  own 
men  as  he  was  hunting.  ...  All  that  was  abominable  to  God  and 
oppressive  to  men  was  common  in  this  island  in  William's  time. 

With  the  last  entry  in  the  Chronicle  in  1154  the  history  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  First-English  literature  comes 
to  an  end.  For  a  period  of  over  a  hundred  years  previous  to  that 
time  a  new  and  powerful  influence  had  been  moulding  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  nation. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  sort  of  people  did  Caesar  find  upon  his  arrival  in  Britain?     Who 

are  their  present  descendants  ? 

2.  What  has  English  literature  derived  from  the  Celtic  element? 

3.  From  where  and  under  what  circumstances  came  the  Jutes,   Saxons, 

and  Angles  ?  * 

4.  What  do  we  know  of  the  early  Saxon's  idea  of  government? 

5.  Describe  the  life  of  an  early  Saxon  scop. 

6.  Who  was  King  Arthur? 

7.  In  outline  tell  the  class  the  story  of  Beowulf. 

8.  What  words  do  we  use  that  are  directly  derived  from  the  religion  of 

the  Norsemen? 

9.  What  did  Caedmon  do   for  the  English  people? 

10.  Who   was   the   first   English   historian  ?     How    did   the   Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle  originate? 

Suggested  Readings. — Caesar's  "  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War," 
Book  iv,  23-38,  and  Book  v,  8-23 ;  Henry  Morley's  "  English  Writers," 
vol.  i;  Green's  "Shorter  History  of  the  English  People,"  Chapter  I: 
"Beowulf";  Tennyson's  "Idylls  of  the  King";  selections  from  Bede's 
"  Ecclesiastical  History  "  and  "  The  Saxon  Chronicle  "  in  the  Bohn  Edition. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  NORMANS   (876-1216) 

"  There  are  two  languages  which  must  take  precedence,  the  one  as 
having  contributed  most  largely  to  our  vocabulary  and  built  up  the  frame- 
work of  our  speech,  the  other  both  as  having  influenced  somewhat  the 
structure  of  English  and  as  being  in  itself  a  sort  of  embodiment  of  universal 
grammar.     These  are  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Latin  tongue." 

— George  P.  Marsh. 

Under  the  year  876  we  find  in  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle  "  this  entry: 
"  This  year  Rollo  overran  Normandy  with  his  army  and  he  reigned 
fifty  years."  This,  it  will  be  noted,  was  in  King  Alfred's  reign,  when 
the  tide  of  northern  piracy  was  temporarily  diverted  from  England. 
Rollo  and  his  followers  were  Norwegians  and  belonged  to  the  same 
Teutonic  stock  as  the  Danes  and  English.  Indeed,  the  only  recorded 
scrap  of  Rollo's  conversation  sounds  more  like  English  than  like 
Norwegian.  When  the  King  of  France  required  him  to  kiss  his  foot 
in  token  of  submission,  he  indignantly  exclaimed,  "  Ne  se  by  God," 
while  one  of  his  followers  seized  the  royal  foot  so  roughly  that  his 
majesty  was  overset. 

Unlike  the  Saxons,  however,  these  Northmen  had  a  quick  wit  and 
a  powerful  fancy.  Their  mythology  is  exceeded  in  these  qualities 
only  by  that  of  the  Greeks.  Their  ancient  beliefs  are  preserved  and 
at  the  same  time  half  ridiculed  in  two  invaluable  books,  called  the 
"  Eddas."  From  these  we  get  a  picture  of  the  warrior's  heaven,  or 
V'alhalla,  which  throws  much  light  on  their  character.  No  one  could 
enter  this  paradise  unless  he  fell  in  battle.  Those  who  died  a  straw 
death  (i.e.,  in  bed)  had  another  place.  In  Valhalla  the  warriors 
fight  ever\^  morning  with  one  another.  That  is  their  play.  WTien 
they  are  weary  of  hewing  and  chopping,  they  gather  their  fragments 
up  and  ride  home  to  eat  and  drink.  Their  drink  is  mead,  their  meat 
the  boiled  flesh  of  the  boar  Saerimmir,  who  is  sodden  every  day  and 
eaten,  and  whole  every  night  ready  to  be  boiled  again. 

Some  of  their  stories  about  the  gods  and  giants  have  rare  dramatic 
and  humorous  qualities.  Such  is  that  of  Thor  and  Thrym.  Thor 
woke  up  one  morning  and  found  his  hammer  gone.  It  was  evident 
40 


THE  NORMANS  41 

that  it  had  been  stolen  by  Thr>'m,  chief  of  the  Eotens,  or  stupid 
giants.  In  order  to  recover  it,  Thor  made  Loki  array  himself  in 
Freya's  feather  dress  and  go  down  to  the  land  of  the  giants.  Here 
sat  Thrym.  "  How  are  the  gods?  "  asked  he.  "  And  what  brings 
you  to  Eotenham?  "  "  It  is  not  well  with  the  gods,"  said  Loki. 
"  Have  you  hidden  the  Thunderer's  hammer?  "  "  I  have  hidden  the 
Thunderer's  hammer  eight  baiting  stages  deep  under  the  earth,"  said 
Thrym,  "  and  no  one  shall  get  it  again  unless  he  bring  me  Freya  for  a 
bride."  When  Freya  was  told  this,  she  stormed  until  she  shook  the 
whole  hall  of  the  gods.  Then  Heimdall,  the  cleverest  of  the  gods, 
suggested  that  Thor  himself  be  disguised  as  Freya  in  bridal  raiment. 
Thor  demurred,  but  Loki  said:  "  The  giants  will  be  in  Asgard  if  we 
do  not  get  your  hammer  back."  So  they  dressed  Thor  as  a  bride  and 
Loki  as  her  maid,  and  set  out  for  Eotenham.  On  their  arrival,  Thrym 
made  a  bridal  feast  and  the  giants  drank  much  ale,  while  Thor  ate 
an  ox,  eight  salmon,  and  all  the  sweets  provided  for  the  women.  This 
excited  Thrym's  suspicion.  '"  I  never  saw  brides  swallow  so  greedily," 
said  he,  "  nor  a  maid  drink  so  much  beer."  But  Loki  was  ready  with 
an  answer:  "  Freya  loves  you  so  much  that  she  has  not  eaten  for 
eight  days."  When  Thr>^m  raised  Freya's  veil  in  search  of  a  kiss,  he 
recoiled  in  terror  the  whole  length  of  the  hall,  crying:  "  How  terrible 
the  eyes  of  Freya  blaze!  "  But  Loki  said:  "  Freya  loves  you  so  much 
that  she  has  not  slept  for  eight  nights."  Then  the  sister  of  Thrym 
begged  a  ring  from  the  bride  and  Thrym  called:  "  Bring  me  the 
hammer  of  Thor  to  hallow  the  bride.  Lay  Mjolnir  in  the  maiden's 
bosom  and  give  us  to  each  other  worthily."  Then  the  Thunderer's 
heart  laughed  wuthin  him  as  he  felt  the  hard  heart  of  the  hammer,  and 
he  smote  Thrym  and  all  the  other  giants,  not  omitting  the  old  sister 
who  had  had  the  effrontery  to  ask  for  a  gift. 

On  another  occasion  Thor  and  two  friends  undertake  an  expedition 
to  Eoten-land.  At  nightfall  in  a  trackless  forest  they  find  a  house, 
whose  door  is  the  whole  breadth  of  one  end.  Here,  in  one  large  hall 
altogether  empty,  they  lodge.  At  dead  of  night  there  is  a  terrible 
uproar.  Thor  seizes  his  hammer  and  stands  in  the  door  prepared 
to  fight,  while  his  friends  hide  in  a  little  closet.  In  the  morning  it 
turns  out  that  the  uproar  was  only  the  snoring  of  the  giant  Skrymer, 


42  ENGLISH  LITKRATURE 

who  lay  peacefully  sleeping  near  by.  The  house  was  his  mitten,  the 
door  its  wrist,  and  the  closet  its  thumb. 

One  of  the  causes  of  the  quick  wit  of  these  Norwegians  was 
unquestionably  the  character  of  their  first  home.  Norway  is  practi- 
cally one  huge  rock,  cracked  in  countless  places  along  the  edges  by 
volcanic  action.  These  cracks,  into  which  the  sea  flows,  often  for 
many  miles,  are  called  fjords.  The  interior  of  the  country  is  barren 
and  cold.  Existence  there  is  possible  only  through  a  constant  intelli- 
gent struggle  with  nature.  In  many  localities  the  only  source  of  food 
is  the  sea.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Northmen  were  quick,  self-reliant, 
adaptable,  and  bold. 

Once  settled  in  France,  they  forgot  their  native  land  and  their 
native  language,  married  French  women,  adopted  French  manners, 
embraced  Christianity,  and  speedily  became  the  foremost  race  in 
Europe.  "  They  raised  their  new  language,"  says  Macaulay,  "  to  a 
dignity  and  importance  which  it  had  never  before  possessed.  .  .  . 
They  renounced  that  brutal  intemperance  to  which  all  the  other 
branches  of  the  great  Germanic  family  were  too  much  inclined.  The 
polite  luxury  of  the  Norman  presented  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
coarse  voracity  and  drunkenness  of  his  Saxon  and  Danish  neighbors. 
He  loved  to  display  his  magnificence,  not  in  huge  piles  of  food  and 
hogsheads  of  strong  drink,  but  in  large  and  stately  edifices,  rich  armor, 
gallant  horses,  choice  falcons,  banquets  delicate  rather  than  abun- 
dant, and  wines  remarkable  rather  for  their  exquisite  flavor  than  for 
their  intoxicating  power.  That  chivalrous  spirit  which  has  exercised 
so  powerful  an  influence  on  the  politics,  manners,  and  morals  of  all 
the  European  nations,  was  found  in  its  highest  exaltation  among  the 
Norman  nobles.  Those  nobles  were  distinguished  by  their  graceful 
bearing  and  insinuating  address.  They  were  distinguished  also  by 
their  skill  in  negotiation  and  by  a  natural  eloquence  which  they 
assiduously  cultivated.     .     .  But  their  chief  fame  was  derived 

from  their  military  exploits.  Every  country  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
to  the  Dead  Sea  witnessed  the  prodigies  of  their  discipline  and  valor. 
One  Norman  knight,  at  the  head  of  a  handful  of  warriors,  scattered 
the  Celts  of  Connaught.  Another  founded  the  monarchy  of  the  Two 
Sicilies,  and  saw  the  emperors  both  of  the  East  and  of  the  West  fly 


THE  NORMANS  43 

before  his  arms.  A  third,  the  Ulysses  of  the  First  Crusade,  was 
invested  by  his  fellow  soldiers  with  the  sovereignty  of  Antioch;  and 
a  fourth,  the  Tancred  whose  name  lives  in  the  great  poem  of  '  Tasso,' 
was  celebrated  through  Christendom  as  the  bravest  and  most  generous 
of  the  deliverers  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre." 

The  vicinity  of  this  remarkable  people  early  began  to  produce  an 
effect  on  the  intellectual  life  of  England.  English  princes  received 
their  education  in  Normandy.  Norman  French  was  spoken  in  the 
palace  of  the  English  king. 

In  1066  the  battle  of  Hastings  placed  Duke  William  of  Normandy 
on  the  English  throne  and  gave  up  the  whole  population  of  England 
to  the  tyranny  of  the  Norman  race.  The  country  was  portioned  out 
among  the  captains  of  the  invaders.  A  cruel  penal  code  guarded  the 
privileges  and  even  the  sports  of  the  alien  tyrants.  Yet  the  subject 
race,  though  beaten  down,  still  made  its  sting  felt.  Some  bold  men 
betook  themselves  to  the  woods  and  there  waged  a  predatory  war 
against  their  oppressors.  Among  these  the  most  famous  was  that 
Robin  Hood  who  is  the  favorite  hero  of  the  oldest  English  ballads 
and  who  appears  in  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "  Ivanhoe  "  as  Locksley.  Any- 
one who  wishes,  by  a  most  agreeable  process,  to  burn  into  his  memory 
a  vivid  and  ineffaceable  impression  of  the  conditions  that  prevailed  in 
England  throughout  this  period,  can  do  so  by  reading  the  books  listed 
below: 

Reign  Dates  Books 

William  the  Conqueror.  . .  .  1066-1087 Tennyson's  "  Harold,"  a  tragedy. 

Kingsley's  "  Hereward  the  Wake," 

a  novel. 
Kipling's     "  Young     ]\Ien     at     the 

Manor,"  a  story. 
Kipling's     "  Weland's     Sword,"    a 
story. 

William  Rufus 1087-1100.  . . .  Robin   Hood  Ballads. 

Henry  I iioo— 1135.  . .  .Kipling's   "  The  Joyous  Venture," 

a  story. 
Kipling's  "  Old  Men  at  Pevensy," 

a  story. 
Kipling's   "  The   Tree  of  Justice," 
a  story. 

Stephen  1135-1154.  ..."  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth." 

Henry  H 1154-1189.  ...  Tennyson's  "  Beket,"  a  tragedy. 

Richard  1 1189^1199.  . .  .Scott's  "  Ivanhoe,"  a  novel.       — ■ 

Scott's  "  Talisman,"  a  novel. 


44  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

During  this  period  there  was,  to  speak  strictly,  no  English  histoty. 
Though  these  Norman  kings  conquered  Ireland,  overawed  Scotland, 
attained  more  power  on  the  Continent  than  their  liege  lords  the  kings 
of  France,  dazzled  Asia  by  their  glor\\  and  seemed  in  a  fair  way  to 
build  up  a  single  great  monarchy  stretching  from  the  Orkneys  to  the 
Pyrenees,  they  continued  to  speak  French,  to  live  in  France,  to  fill 
the  chief  offices  of  state  with  Frenchmen,  and  to  regard  the  people 
of  England  much  as  the  people  of  England  now  regard  the  East 
Indians.  The  princes,  the  lords,  and  the  prelates  differed  in  race  and 
in  language  from  the  artisans  and  farmers.  The  revenues  of  the  rich 
were  spent  in  Paris.  No  man  of  English  extraction  rose  to  eminence 
except  by  becoming  in  speech  and  habits  a  Frenchman.  The  lan- 
guage of  Cynewoilf  and  Alfred  became  a  rustic  dialect,  without  a  litera- 
ture, a  fixed  grammar,  or  a  fixed  orthography,  and  w^as  contemptuously 
abandoned  to  the  use  of  boors. 

The  only  writing  of  note  that  was  done  in  England  during  this 
century  and  a  half  was,  accordingly,  not  in  English  but  in  Latin. 
The  first  six  Norman  kings  were  strong  men.  They  not  only  gave 
the  chroniclers  something  to  wTite  about  but  they  gave  them  substan- 
tial encouragement.  Of  them  the  best  was  a  monk  named  William 
of  Malmesbury,  whose  histories  cover  the  period  from  449  to  1142. 
He  was  followed  by  Geoffrey  of  IVIonmouth,  who  in  the  reign  of 
Stephen  produced  a  book  which  he  called  the  "  History  of  the  Kings 
of  Britain."  Though  in  form  a  sober  history,  it  is  really  a  masterpiece 
of  fiction.  Myth,  legend,  traditions,  pedantry,  the  Welsh  dreams  of 
future  triumph  over  the  Saxon,  memories  of  the  crusades,  and  stories 
of  Charlemagne  were  mingled  in  Geoffrey's  book  in  such  a  fashion 
that  it  became  immensely  popular  with  everybody  except  the  other 
chroniclers,  one  of  whom,  William  of  Newburgh,  characterized  it  as  a 
tissue  of  impudent  and  shameless  lies  and  complained  that  Geoffrey 
had  made  the  little  finger  of  Arthur  stouter  than  the  back  of  Alexan- 
der the  Great.  Out  of  his  creation  finally  grew  the  legend  of  the 
Round  Table,  a  fact  of  immense  importance  in  the  development  not 
only  of  English  literature  but  also  of  the  English  national  spirit. 
Arthur  was  a  hero  in  whom  Celt,  Saxon,  Dane,  and  Norman  could  all 
feel  a  common  pride  and  interest.    But  Geoffrey's  service  to  English 


THE  NORMANS  45 

literature  does  not  stop  here.  He  preserved,  if  he  did  not  invent,  the 
stories  of  "  Lear  "  and  "  Cymbeline  "  and  to  him  Milton  owed  certain 
important  parts  of  "  Comus."  And  he  has  had  a  large  reward  in  the 
form  of  praise  from  the  poets.  Among  his  eulogists  have  been 
Chaucer,  Spenser,  Drayton,  Dryden,  and  Wordsworth.  Altogether  he 
is  the  most  important  literary  figure  of  the  twelfth  century  in  Eng- 
land. So  popular  did  his  work  become,  indeed,  among  his  con- 
temporaries that  to  confess  ignorance  of  its  stories  was  the  mark 
of  a  clown.  Its  influence  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  the  British 
Museum  alone  has  thirty-five  and  the  Bodleian  Library  sixteen 
copies  of  it  in  mediaeval  manuscripts. 

The  fact,  already  alluded  to,  that  throughout  this  period  English 
ceased  or  nearly  ceased  to  be  written,  was  really  a  blessing  in  disguise. 
One  can  easily  imagine  what  happened,  if  one  will  think  for  a  moment 
of  the  difficulties  which  uneducated  or  half-educated  people  have 
even  now  with  our  very  simple  modern  inflections.  If  the  vulgar  in 
this  age  of  books  and  schools  still  persist  in  saying,  "  Me  and  him 
ain't  got  no  show,"  and  even  high  school  principals  are  occasionally 
guilty  of  such  solecisms  as  "  Give  the  book  to  John  or  I,"  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  complicated  conjugations  and  declensions  of  Saxon, 
when  abandoned  to  people  who  could  neither  read  nor  write,  were 
soon  lost.  Every  unessential  element  of  the  language,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  was  swept  away.  It  became  the  simplest  of  human  dialects, 
and  in  becoming  the  simplest  it  acquired  a  power  of  appropriating  new 
words  which  has  made  its  vocabulary  the  largest  and  richest  in  the 
world.  Saxon  w^as  pared  down,  so  to  speak,  as  a  dentist  pares  down  a 
damaged  tooth  in  order  to  crown  it  with  gold.  The  result  is  that 
modern  English  already  has  a  hoard  of  words  about  six  times  as  great 
as  German,  French,  Itahan,  or  Spanish,  and  the  process  still  goes  on. 
Like  a  whirlpool  or  a  magnet,  the  English  language  continues  to  suck 
in  philological  rubbish  and  attract  linguistic  metal  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe.  The  result  was  a  language  less  musical  indeed, 
as  Macaulay  finely  says,  than  the  languages  of  the  South,  but  in  force, 
in  richness,  in  aptitude  for  all  the  highest  purposes  of  the  poet,  the 
philosopher,  and  the  orator,  inferior  to  the  tongue  of  Greece  alone. 

From  its  position  of  subserviency   the   English  language  was 


46  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

rescued  by  an  event  which  historians  have  generally  represented  as 
a  disaster.  Richard  the  Lion-hearted  was  succeeded  by  John  (1199- 
1216),  who  was  a  trifler  and  a  coward.  He  was  driven  from  Nor- 
mandy. Shut  up  with  the  people  whom  they  had  hitherto  oppressed 
and  despised,  the  Norman  nobles  began  to  regard  England  as  their 
countr\'  and  the  English  as  their  countrymen.  The  two  races  found 
that  they  had  common  interests  and  common  enemies.  Both  were 
alike  disgusted  by  the  tyranny  and  incapacity  of  John.  The  first 
pledge  of  their  reconciliation  was  the  Great  Charter,  won  by  their 
united  exertions  and  framed  for  their  common  benefit.  The  student 
who  wishes  to  obtain  a  vivid  picture  of  these  important  transactions 
will  read  Mr.  Rudyard  Kipling's  story,  "  The  Treasure  and  the 
Law,"  and  the  first,  in  chronological  order,  of  Shakespeare's  incom- 
parable historical  plays,  '"  King  John." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Under  whose  rule  did  the  English  first  hear  of  the  Normans'  activity 

upon  the  Continent? 

2.  Where  was  Valhalla?     Describe  the  life  lived  there. 

3.  Who  were  the  characters  in  Norse  mythology? 

4.  Considering  the  influence  of  the  climate,  why  is  it  to  be  expected  that 

the   Normans   should   be   bright,   quick,   and    self-reliant,    while   the 
Angles  and  Saxons  were  heavy,  solid,  and' unimaginative? 

5.  Who  were  the  founders  of  the  chivalric  ideal  in  Europe? 

6.  Where  is  Robin  Hood's  place  in  history? 

7.  For  what  are  we  indebted  to  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth? 

8.  How  do  you  account  for  the  existence  of  the  following  pairs  of  words  : 

"  Calf  "  and  "  veal  "  ;  "  sv/ine  "  and  "  pork  "  ;  "  sheep"  and  "  mutton  "  ? 

9.  Under  whose  reign  did  the  English  lose  Normandy? 

10.  Up  until   the  Thirteenth   Century,  how  many  language  currents  had 
joined  on  English  soil  to  form  our  present  language? 

Suggested  Readings. — In  addition  to  the  novels,  stories,  and  plays 
indicated  in  the  text.  "  The  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature"  and 
Chambers's  "  Encyclop?edia  of  English  Literature"  should  always  be  within 
reach  of  the  pupil.  Marsh's  "Lectures  on  the  English  Language"  and 
,  Welsh's  "Development  of  the  English  Language  and  Literature"  are  also 
good  books  to  have  around. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  ENGLISH  (i£i6-i40o) 

"  Another  will  say  that  English  wanteth  grammar.  Nay,  truly,  it  hath 
that  praise  that  it  wants  not  grammar,  for  grammar  it  might  have,  l)ut  needs 
it  not,  being  so  easie  in  itself,  and  so  void  of  those  cumbersome  differences 
of  cases,  genders,  moods,  and  tenses,  which  I  think  was  a  piece  of  the 
Tower  of  Babylon's  curse,  that  a  man  should  lie  put  to  school  to  learn  his 
mother  tongue.  But  for  the  uttering  sweetly  and  properly  the  conceit  of 
the  minde,  which  is  the  need  of  speech,  that  it  hath  equally  with  any  other 
tongue  in  the  world." 

— Sir  Philip  Sidney. 

With  the  signing  of  the  Charter  at  Runny mede  (1216)  really 
begins  the  history  of  the  English  nation.  During  the  century  that 
followed  the  English  people  began  to  show  those  peculiarities  which 
they  have  ever  since  retained.  Then  first  appeared  the  outlines  of 
the  Enghsh  constitution,  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  common  law. 
Then  it  was  that  the  courage  of  English  sailors  first  made  the  flag 
of  England  terrible  on  the  seas.  Then  were  founded  the  most  ancient 
of  the  colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Then,  too,  appeared  the 
first  faint  dawn  of  modern  English  literature,  the  most  splendid  and 
the  most  durable  of  the  many  glories  of  England. 

Even  before  John  was  expelled  from  the  Continent,  that  is  to  say, 
about  1200,  there  was  in  the  land  a  priest  named  Layamon.  "  He 
was  son,"  he  tells  us,  "  of  Leovenath;  may  the  Lord  be  gracious  to 
him!  He  dwelt  at  Earnley,  a  noble  church  on  the  banks  of  Severn 
(good  it  seemed  to  him!)  near  Radstone,  where  he  read  books.  It 
came  in  mind  to  him  that  he  would  tell  the  noble  deeds  of  England." 
So  he  travelled  up  and  down  in  the  land,  and  in  his  travels  he 
found  Bede's  history  and  a  translation  which  a  Frenchman  named 
Wace  had  made  of  the  book  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  "  Layamon 
laid  down  these  books  and  turned  the  leayes;  he  beheld  them  lovingly 
(may  the  Lord  be  merciful  to  him! ) .  Pen  he  took  in  hand  and  wrote 
a  book-skin."  What  he  wrote  on  his  book-skin  was  a  poem  of  32,000 
lines,  which  he  called  "  Brut,"  after  a  T<-ojan  who,  according  to  the 
imaginative  Geoffrey,  after  the  Trojan  war  had  settled  in  Britain  as 
^neas  settled  in  Italy.     The  real  hero  of  the  "  Brut,"  however, 

47 


48  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

like  the  real  hero  of  Geoffrey's  Chronicle,  is  Arthur.  But  Layamon 
is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  translator.  His  Arthur  is  more  gener- 
ous, knightly,  and  sympathetic  than  Geoffrey's.  He  is  courteous; 
he  loves  law  and  order;  he  defends  Christianity.  Layamon  also  uses 
some  material  not  found  in  Geoffrey,  including  the  stories  of  Merlin 
and  Lancelot,  which  originated  in  France.  As  history  his  book  is 
worthless,  as  poetry  fair,  as  a  monument  of  English  priceless.  It  is 
surprisingly  free  from  Norman  words,  containing  in  all  less  than  100 
of  them.  In  versification  it  is  a  compromise  between  the  old  and  the 
new;  its  general  scheme  is  the  same  alliterative  measure  as  that  of 
Beowulf,  but  in  places  this  is  modified  by  rhyme.  The  really  inter- 
esting thing  about  Layamon  is,  however,  that  with  his  poem  begins 
the  history  of  modern  English  literature;  in  his  ''  Brut "  we  see  as  a 
shallow  and  narrow  brook  the  beginnings  of  the  stream  that  grew 
wide  in  Chaucer's  day,  in  Shakespeare's  broadened  into  a  mighty 
river,  and  that  has  not  in  any  generation  since  become  wholly  dry. 

The  Arthurian  legends  v/hich  Layamon  thus  collected  and  intro- 
duced into  English  had  their  origin  in  Wales.  Arthur's  name  is  so 
extensively  preserved  in  the  place-names  of  Wales  that  one  writer  de- 
clares that  only  the  devil  is  more  often  mentioned  in  local  association 
than  Arthur.  Old  English  literature  does  not  mention  him.  About 
800  a  Welshman  named  Nennius,  in  a  book  called  the  "  Historia 
Brittonum,"  says  that,  some  time  after  the  death  of  Hengist,  Arthur 
fought  against  the  English  in  twelve  battles.  In  "  Kulwch  and 
Olwen,"  an  early  and  charming  Welsh  poem,  he  appears,  however, 
as  a  fairy  king.  Indeed,  the  whole  poem  breathes  the  very  spirit  of 
fairy-land.  Olwen,  the  heroine,  had  a  skin  whiter  than  the  foam 
of  the  wave;  fairer  were  her  hands  than  the  blossoms  of  the  wood- 
anemone  amidst  the  spray  of  the  meadow  fountain;  and  four  white 
trefoils  sprang  up  wherever  she  trod.  The  men  in  the  poem  were  even 
more  wonderful.  One  of  them,  Sol,  could  stand  all  day  on  one  foot; 
another,  Gwevel,  when  he  was  sad  would  let  one  of  his  lips  drop 
below  his  waist,  while  he  turned  up  the  other  like  a  cap  over  his 
head;  a  third,  Clust,  though  buried  seven  cubits  beneath  the  earth, 
could  hear  the  ant  fifty  miles  off  rise  from  her  bed  in  the  morning, 
while  Kai,  the  seneschal  of  Tennyson's  "  Idylls,"  could  hold  his  breath 


THE  ENGLISH  49 

nine  days  and  nights  under  water  and  exist  nine  days  and  nights  with- 
out sleep.  "  Very  subtle  was  Kai,"  says  the  old  poem;  "  he  could 
make  himself  as  tall  as  the  highest  tree  in  the  forest."  In  Geoffrey  of 
Monmouth  Arthur  has  his  sword  Caliburn  (Excalibur),  against 
which  armor  might  not  avail.  Wace  is  the  first  author  to  mention 
the  Round  Table,  which  was  made  to  settle  all  disputes  about  prece- 
dence among  Arthur's  knights.  Layamon  adds  the  information  that, 
though  it  would  seat  1600  men,  it  could  be  carried  by  Arthur  wherever 
he  rode.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  when,  in  later  generations. 
Sir  Thomas  Malory  wrote  his  "  Morte  d'  Arthur  "  and  Tennyson 
produced  the  "  Idylls  of  the  King,"  they  were  dealing  with  old 
materials.  As  Matthew  Arnold  says,  they  were  like  peasants  building 
on  the  site  of  Halicarnassus  or  Ephesus;  they  built,  but  what  they 
built  was  full  of  stones  of  an  earlier  building.  And  through  the  whole 
history  of  the  great  legend  we  can  hear  a  sound  that  is  not  Saxon, 
or  Welsh,  or  Norman — a  sound  that  is  new,  which  is  English — 

"  The  horns  of  Elfland  faintly  blowing."  **» 

The  lyric  poetry  of  England  also  had  its  beginning  in  the  thir- 
teenth century.  To  the  Saxon,  nature  had  been  a  source  of  terror; 
he  had  regarded  with  dread  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  monsters 
of  the  deep.  The  feeling  of  the  modern  dweller  in  cities  is  diametri- 
cally opposite;  he  believes  that  God  made  the  country  and  man  made 
the  town;  he  loves  the  sea  and  the  sky.  One  of  the  earliest  and  finest 
illustrations  of  this  change  of  attitude  toward  nature  is  seen  in  the 
following  song,  which  was  written  about  1250: 

"  Sumer  is  i-cumen  in,  Summer  is  coming  in ; 

Lhude  sing  cuccu !  Sing  loud,  cuckoo  ! 

Groweth  sed  and  bloweth  med,  Groweth  seed  and  bloweth  mede, 

And  springeth  the  wde  nu.  And  springeth  the  wood  now. 

Sing  cuccu  !  Sing,  cuckoo  ! 

Awe  bleteh  after  lomb,  Ewe  bleateth  after  lamb ; 

Lhouth  after  calve  cu:  Loweth  after  calf  cow. 
Bulluc  sterteth,  bucke  verteth.                .   Bullock  starteth  ;  buck  darteth. 

Murie  sing  cuccu !  "  Merrily  sing,  cuckoo  ! 

"  If  summer  had  not  yet  '  come  in,'  "  says  A.  R.  Waller,  "  spring 
at  any  rate  was  well  on  the  way  when  verses  like  these  became 
possible." 

4 


50  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Contemporaneous  with  the  development  of  the  Arthurian  legend 
we  find  another  phenomenon  which  strikes  one  as  equally  modern 
and  equally  characteristic  of  modern  English-speaking  peoples — that 
fondness  for  silly  stories  which  is  so  pronounced  a  trait  of  the  English 
and  Americans  of  to-day.  From  1200  to  1500  a  great  number  of  bad 
metrical  romances  were  written  and  read  by  our  forefathers.  Of 
these  "  Sir  Bevis  "  reminds  one  most  of  the  best-sellers  of  to-day.  It 
contains  all  of  the  elements  that  characterize  the  worst  and  best  tales 
of  its  class.  The  hero's  father  is  murdered;  the  hero  is  disinherited; 
a  Paynim  princess  woos  him;  he  carries  a  treacherous  letter,  bearing 
with  him  his  own  death;  he  is  separated  from  his  wife  and  children; 
he  is  exiled.  There  are  also  a  giant  and  a  dragon,  which  were  as 
necessary  in  those  days  as  are  to-day  a  hero  with  a  future  and  a 
heroine  with  a  past.  In  another  of  these  tales,  "  Sir  Gawain  and  the 
Green  Knight,"  Gawain  strikes  off  the  head  of  the  Green  Knight, 
whereupon  the  trunk  picks  up  the  head  and  challenges  Gawain  to 
meet  him  a  year  hence.  In  a  third,  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  feasts  on 
Saracens  and  provides  the  same  dish  for  Saracen  ambassadors.  The 
plots  in  several  of  these  tales  are  quite  as  good,  too,  as  those  of  many 
popular  modern  novels.  Their  like  can  be  found  in  the  legends  of 
France  and  Germany;  indeed,  the  best  way  to  get  a  clear  idea  of 
their  intrinsic  foolishness  is  to  read  Mark  Twain's  delicious  moderniza- 
tion of  one  of  the  silliest  of  the  latter,  the  legend  of  the  "  Spectacular 
Ruin,"  which,  in  brief,  is  as  follows: 

"  A  dragon  lived  in  that  region  and  made  more  trouble  than  a 
tax-collector.  He  was  as  long  as  a  railway  train  and  had  the  custo- 
mary green  scales  all  over  him.  He  ate  men  and  cattle  impartially 
and  was  exceedingly  unpopular.  The  German  emperor  had  a  surplus- 
age of  daughters  and  it  was  customary  for  dragon-killers  to  take  a 
daughter  for  pay,  so  he  offered  one  of  them  as  a  reward  to  anyone  who 
would  destroy  the  monster.  The  most  renowned  knights  came  there- 
fore from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  and  retired  one  by  one 
down  the  dragon's  throat.  At  last  Sir  Wissenschaft  arrived  to  do 
battle  with  the  pestilence.  Like  most  heroes  in  the  early  chapters  of 
romances,  he  was  unprepossessing.  His  armor  hung  in  rags  about 
him  and  instead  of  a  sword  he  carried  a  knapsack.    He  was  received 


THE  ENGLISH  51 

with  tolerance  but  not  enthusiasm,  and  given  a  bed  in  the  servants' 
quarters.  Next  day  he  met  the  dragon,  who  breathed  forth  volumes 
of  sulphurous  smoke  and  lurid  blasts  of  flame,  whereupon  the  ragged 
knight  unslung  his  knapsack,  which  was  simply  the  common  fire- 
extinguisher  known  to  modern  times,  and  turned  the  hose  square 
into  the  middle  of  his  enemy's  cavernous  mouth.  Out  went  the  fires 
and  the  dragon  curled  up  and  died.  Instead  of  a  daughter,  however, 
the  victor  demanded  a  monopoly  of  the  spectacle  trade  of  Germany 
and  an  imperial  decree  that  all  Germans  wear  spectacles,  whether 
they  needed  them  or  not.  Thus  originated  the  legend  of  the  monopo- 
list's once  stately  castle,  the  '  Spectacular  Ruin.'  " 

From  this  charge  of  silliness,  however,  must  be  excepted  one  work 
of  fiction  that  belongs  to  this  period,  the  "  Travels  of  Sir  John 
Mandeville."  It  was  long  supposed  that  Sir  John  was  a  real  man^ 
like  Christopher  Columbus;  but  modern  scholars  have  discovered  that, 
like  Robinson  Crusoe  or  David  Copperfield,  he  is  only  a  skilfully 
depicted  character  in  what  is  really  one  of  the  great  romances  of  all 
time.  The  story  of  the  composition  of  this  work  has  not  yet  been 
entirely  deciphered;  perhaps  it  never  will  be;  this  much,  however,  is 
fairly  well  established:  About  1356  a  Frenchman  named  Jean 
d'Outremeuse  wrote  at  Liege  a  French  version  of  Sir  John's  Travels. 
In  the  preface  he  said  that  Sir  John  Mandeville,  Knight,  of  St. 
Albans,  had  left  England  in  1322,  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem; 
had  travelled  until  1343  in  sundry  lands;  on  his  return  home  had 
been  laid  up  at  Liege  with  gout;  had  been  attended  in  his  illness 
by  a  local  physician;  and  at  the  latter's  suggestion  had  written  an 
account  of  his  travels  to  solace  his  enforced  idleness.  The  local 
physician  is  probably  a  myth;  the  rest  of  this  story  almost  surely  is. 
The  work  thus  given  to  the  public  is  not  a  book  of  travels  at  all,  but 
a  work  of  fiction.  The  author  never  travelled  farther  than  the  local 
library.  He  takes  no  account  of  time.  Some  of  his  observations 
on  Palestine  are  wrong  by  three  centuries.  A  note  he  gives  on  Ceylon 
was  made  by  Caesar  on  the  Britons;  some  of  his  science  comes  from 
Pliny;  he  even  steals  from  Homer.  The  important  fact  is  that  the 
author,  whoever  he  was,  succeeded  in  producing  one  of  the  most  agree- 
able volumes  ever  written,  a  volume  that  for  five  centuries  has  been  a 


52  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

household  word  in  eleven  languages  and  that  is  still  easy  and  pleasant 
reading.  Though  the  English  version  is  only  a  translation,  it  is  one 
of  the  most  important  books  in  the  language. 

Of  its  34  chapters,  the  first  twenty,  roughly  speaking,  are  grouped 
around  the  idea  of  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem.  The  rest  deal  with 
Java,  Cathay,  the  Tartarians,  Persia,  and  India.  Among  the  topics 
treated  are:  the  Way  out  of  England  to  Constantinople;  Ypocras's 
Daughter,  transformed  from  a  Woman  to  a  Dragon;  how  Roses  came 
first  into  the  World;  three  ways  to  Jerusalem — by  land  and  sea, 
mostly  by  land,  and  all  by  land;  how  the  Soldan  reasoned  me;  the 
land  where  women  dwell  without  coijPDany  of  men;  three  manner  of 
growing  pepper  upon  one  tree;  the  Well  that  changeth  his  odour 
every  hour,  and  that  is  marvel ;  how  the  earth  and  the  sea  be  of  round 
form  and  shape,  by  proof  of  the  star  that  is  clept  Antarctic;  where- 
fore the  Emperor  of  Ind  is  clept  Prester  John. 

The  only  way  to  get  an  adequate  idea  of  the  book  is  to  read  it, 
and  this  is  neither  a  hard  nor  unpleasant  task.  Some  slight  notion 
of  its  character  may,  however,  be  obtained  from  a  few  quotations: 

"  This  river  of  Danube  is  a  full  great  river,  and  it  goeth  into 
Almayne  under  the  hills  of  Lombardy,  and  it  receiveth  into  him  forty 
other  rivers,  and  it  runneth  through  Hungary  and  through  Greece  and 
through  Thrace,  and  it  entereth  into  the  sea  so  rudely  and  sharply 
that  the  water  of  the  sea  is  fresh  and  holdeth  his  sweetness  twenty 
mile  within  the  sea." 

"  At  Constantinople  is  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesu  Christ  and  his 
coat  without  seams,  that  is  clept  (called)  Tunica  inconsutilis  (coat 
unsewed),  and  the  sponge,  and  the  reed,  of  the  which  the  Jews  gave 
our  Lord  eysell  and  gall,  in  the  cross.  And  there  is  one  of  the  nails, 
that  Christ  was  nailed  with  on  the  cross." 

"  The  tree  of  the  cross,  that  we  call  C5^ress,  was  of  that  tree  that 
Adam  ate  the  apple  off." 

"  Babylon  sitteth  upon  the  river  of  Gyson,  sometimes  clept  Nile, 
that  cometh  out  of  Paradise  terrestrial.  .  .  .  And  forasmuch  as  it 
ne  raineth  not  in  that  country,  therefore  in  that  country  be  the  good 
astronomers,  for  they  find  there  no  clouds  to  letten  them.     ...     At 


THE  ENGLISH  53 

Cairo  is  a  house  that  is  all  full  of  small  furnaces,  and  thither  bring 
women  of  the  town  their  eyren  (eggs)  of  hens,  of  geese,  and  of  ducks 
for  to  be  put  into  those  furnaces.  And  at  the  end  of  three  weeks  or 
of  a  month  they  come  again  and  take  their  chickens.  .  .  .  Also  in 
that  country  men  find  long  apples  and  men  clepe  them  apples  of 
Paradise;  and  they  be  right  sweet  and  of  good  savour.  And  though 
ye  cut  them  in  never  so  many  gobbets,  everymore  ye  shall  find  in  the 
midst  the  figure  of  the  Holy  Cross  of  our  Lord  Jesu.  .  .  .  And 
men  find  there  also  the  apple  tree  of  Adam,  that  have  a  bite  at  one 
of  the  sides." 

"  In  Ethiopia  be  many  di^rse  folk;  and  Ethiopia  is  clept  Cusis. 
In  that  country  be  folk  that  h^ve  but  one  foot,  and  they  go  so  blyve 
that  it  is  marvel.  And  the  foot  is  so  large  that  it  shadoweth  all  the 
body  against  the  sun,  when  they  will  lie  and  rest  them." 

"  The  earth  is  full  large  and  full  great,  and  holds  in  roundness 
and  about  environ,  by  above  and  beneath,  after  the  opinion  of  old 
wise  astronomers,  20425  miles;  and  their  sayings  I  reprove  nought. 
But,  after  my  little  wit,  it  seemeth  me,  saving  their  reverence,  that 
it  is  more." 

"  In  that  country  and  by  all  Ind  be  great  plenty  of  cockodrills, 
that  is  a  manner  of  a  long  serpent.  These  serpents  slay  men  and  they 
eat  them  weeping;  and  when  they  eat  they  move  the  upper  jaw,  and 
not  the  nether  jaw,  and  they  have  no  tongue." 

"  Of  Paradise  I  cannot  speak  properly.     For  I  was  not  there." 

"  And  ye  shall  understand,  if  it  like  you,  that  at  mine  home- 
coming I  came  to  Rome  and  shewed  my  life  to  our  holy  father  the 
pope,  and  was  assoiled  of  all  that  lay  in  my  conscience,  of  many  a 
diverse  grievous  point.  .  .  .  And  I,  John  Mandeville,  knight, 
abovesaid,  although  I  be  unworthy,  that  departed  from  our  countries 
and  passed  the  sea,  the  year  of  grace  a  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-two,  now  I  am  come  home,  maugre  myself,  to  rest,  for  gouts 
artetykes  that  me  distrain,  that  define  the  end  of  my  labour;  against 
my  will  (God  knoweth)." 

Still  more  characteristically  English  and  modern,  however,  are 
several  books  of  this  period  that  deal  with  moral  and  religious  topics. 


54  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Among  these  the  "  Ormulum,"  the  '' Ancren  Riwle,"  "  Handlyng 

Sinne,"  and  "  The  Vision  of  Piers  Plowman  "  deserve  mention. 

In  the  "  Ormulum  "  we  have  an  effort  to  turn  into  EngUsh  verse 

all  the  gospels  for  the  year  as  arranged  in  the  mass-book.     The  work 

as  planned  comprised  the  treatment  of  243  passages  of  scripture  with 

an  exposition  of  each.    Though  of  these  only  30  are  extant,  the  poem 

is  as  long  as  "  Paradise  Lost,"  prodigiously  uninteresting  in  matter, 

and  monotonous  to  the  last  degree  in  movement,  the  metre  being  a 

perfectly  regular  iambic  septenarius  without  rhyme  or  alliteration. 

For  example; 

"  This  book  is  nenned  Ormulum, 
Forthi  that  Orm  it  wrohte." 

Although  devoid  of  originality  in  his  ideas,  Orm  has  one  distinction. 
Pie  is  the  first  of  our  spelling  reformers,  being  the  inventor  of  that 
plan  of  doubling  consonants  after  short  vowels  which  we  still  find 
exemplified  in  such  words  as  "  diner  "  and  "  dinner."  Orm  was 
an  Augustine  monk  and  probably  wrote  during  the  first  decade  of  the 
thirteenth  century. 

The  "Ancren  Riwle,"  or  "  Rules  for  Anchoresses,"  written  prob- 
ably in  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century,  was  designed  for  the 
guidance  of  three  women  who  desired  to  live  a  secluded  and  religious 
life.  It  is  distinguished  by  learning,  tenderness  of  feeling,  and  much 
vivacity  of  style.    Its  best  qualities  are  seen  in  the  following  extract: 

"  Eve  held  in  Paradise  long  talk  with  the  adder,  and  told  him  all 
the  lesson  that  God  had  taught  her  and  Adam  concerning  the  apple, 
and  so  the  fiend,  through  her  loquacity,  found  the  way  to  her  destruc- 
tion. Our  Lady,  Saint  Mary,  did  far  otherwise.  She  told  not  the 
angel  any  tale,  but  asked  him  of  that  which  she  did  not  know.  Do 
you,  my  dear  sisters,  follow  our  lady  and  not  the  cackling  Eve.  Let 
not  an  anchoress  have  a  hen's  nature.  The  hen,  when  she  has  laid, 
cannot  but  cackle.  And  what  buys  she  thereof?  Comes  at  once 
the  chough  and  bereaves  her  of  her  eggs.  Right  so  the  wicked  chough, 
the  devil,  beareth  away  from  cackling  anchoresses.  The  poor  peddler 
makes  more  noise  to  cry  his  soap  than  a  rich  merchant  to  sell  his 
precious  wares." 


THE  ENGLISH  55 

Robert  Manning  of  Brunne,  in  addition  to  being  a  moralist,  was 
the  most  skilled  story-teller  of  his  time.  About  1303  he  translated 
into  good  English  a  poem  written  in  bad  French  by  William  of  Wad- 
ington  and  called  the  "  Manuel  des  Pechiez,"  or  "  Manual  of  Sins," 
which  Manning  translates  by  the  quaint  phrase,  "  Handlyng  Sinne." 
He  discusses  in  order  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  seven  deadly  sins, 
sacrilege,  and  the  sacraments,  compressing  Wadington  here  and 
adding  to  him  there,  but  always  writing  in  a  readable  style  and  not 
infrequently  laying  down  rules  that  are  not  yet  obsolete.  Throughout 
he  illustrates  his  points  by  well-told  stories;  of  these  the  total  number 
is  65.  Among  the  things  that  he  condemns  are  tournaments,  mystery 
plays,  usury,  gluttony,  the  use  of  church-yards  for  pastures  and  tryst- 
ing  places,  the  lax  morals  of  the  clergy,  women's  costly  and  absurd 
costumes,  carols,  wrestlings,  and  summer  games.  He  loves  to  paint 
grim  pictures  of  hell  and  is  skilful  in  the  use  of  metaphor;  thus  he 
says  "  Tavern  is  the  devil's  knyfe  "  and  "  Kerchief  is  the  devil's  sail." 

More  remarkable  than  any  of  the  religious  works  just  discussed 
is  the  group  of  poems  known  under  the  general  title  of  "  The  Vision 
of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman."  They  were  very  popular 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  retained  their  hold 
on  the  people  until  1600,  were  regarded  by  the  leaders  of  the  Refor- 
mation as  an  inspiration  and  a  prophecy,  and  have  been  quoted 
,  by  every  modern  historian  of  the  fourteenth  century  as  a  vivid  and 
trustworthy  picture  of  that  time.  As  we  have  it,  the  work  exists  in 
three  forms,  which  are  known  as  the  Vernon,  Crowley,  and  Whitaker 
versions,  or  the  A-text,  the  B-text,  and  the  C-text.  The  metre  in  all 
essentials  is  like  that  of  Beowulf;  the  language  is  the  same  as 
Chaucer's. 

The  A-text  consists  of  three  visions  which  came  to  the  author  as 
he  slept  amont  the  Malvern  hills.  In  the  first  of  these,  which  occu- 
pies the  Prologue  and  Passus  (Chapters)  I-IV,  he  sees  a  field  full  of 
folk,  which  is  symbolical  of  the  world;  in  the  second,  which  comprises 
Passus  V-VIII,  Piers  the  Plowman  leads  a  host  of  penitents  in  search 
of  Saint  Truth;  in  the  third,  which  is  related  in  Passus  IX-XII,  the 
dreamer  goes  in  search  of  Do-Well,  Do-Better,  and  Do-Best,  but, 
being  attacked  by  hunger  and  fever,  dies  ere  he  finds  them.     The 


56  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

B-text  and  the  C-text  are  enlarged  and  modified  variations  of  the 
A-text. 

In  the  A-text  the  Prologue  and  Passus  I-VIII  are  distinguished  by 
unity  of  structure,  directness  of  movement,  and  a  style  remarkable  on 
account  of  its  force  and  picturesqueness.  The  plan  of  Passus  IX- 
XII,  on  the  other  hand,  is  confused;  its  diction  is  lacking  in  pre- 
cision; and  the  power  to  paint  word-pictures  which  forms  so  note- 
worthy a  feature  of  the  earlier  visions  is  noticeable  on  account  of  its 
absence.  Instead  of  a  lively  story,  as  in  I-VIII,  we  have  in  IX-XII 
a  rather  confusing  theological  discussion.  The  hero  is  no  longer  the 
honest  rustic,  Piers  the  Plowman,  but  a  dutiful  priest. 

In  the  B-text,  there  are  numerous  interpolations  in  Passus  I-XI; 
Passus  XII  is  omitted;  and  seven  visions  are  added,  two  and  a  fraction 
devoted  to  Do-Well,  a  like  number  to  Do-Better,  and  two  to  Do-Best. 
The  form  of  this  text,  if  form  it  can  be  said  to  have  that  form  has  none, 
is  so  confused  that  it  defies  analysis;  but  in  sincerity  and  emotional 
power  the  new  matter  found  in  this  vision  is  very  great.  It  was 
written  about  1376. 

The  C-text  was  probably  made  1398.  It  differs  from  A  and  B 
in  many  details.  The  changes  are  full  of  piety,  patriotism,  and  pedan- 
try, but  not  poetry. 

Concerning  the  production  of  this  poem,  or  series  of  poems,  there 
are  two  theories.  The  first  is  that  they  were  written  by  William 
Langland,  who  was  born  about  1331  at  Cleobury  Mortimer,  was 
educated  at  Malvern  for  the  church,  failing  to  rise  therein  moved 
to  London  about  1362,  and  soon  thereafter  won  a  great  success  by 
publishing  the  Prologue  and  Passus  I-VIII  of  the  A-text.  Encour- 
aged by  the  favor  with  which  his  work  was  received,  he  soon  added 
Passus  IX-XII.  In  1377,  impelled  by  his  poem's  continued  popu- 
larity and  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  growing  wickedness  of  the 
world,  he  expanded  the  work  from  2567  to  7242  lines,  thus  producing 
the  B-text.  The  C-text,  which  contains  7357  lines,  was  the  result 
of  a  third  revision,  made,  probably,  about  1398.  The  second  theory  is 
that  no  less  than  five  authors  were  concerned  in  the  production  of  the 
work  as  we  have  it,  their  shares  being  as  follows: 

1.  Prologue  and  Passus  I-VIII  in  the  A-text. 


THE  ENGLISH  57 

2.  Passus  IX-XII  in  the  A-text. 

3.  About  19  lines  at  the  end  of  Passus  XII  in  the  A-text, 

4.  The  B-text. 

5.  The  C-text. 

The  chief  argument  in  favor  of  one  author  is  the  improbability 
that,  in  one  and  the  same  generation,  there  should  live  several 
unknown  writers  of  sufficient  ability  to  produce  poems  at  once  so 
■  good  and  so  alike.  Those  who  take  the  opposite  view  hold  that  the 
mental  qualities  shown  by  the  different  versions  indicate  authors  of 
varying  mental  powers,  that  their  methods  were  not  the  same,  that 
their  diction  and  versification  display  marked  divergences,  and  that 
they  sometimes  have  misunderstood  one  another.  Such  controver- 
sies are  likely  to  arise  concerning  the  authorship  of  works  written 
prior  to  the  invention  of  printing.  In  those  days,  indeed,  every 
author  was  more  or  less  at  the  mercy  of  copyists,  and  those  who,  like 
the  author  of  Piers  Plowman,  dealt  with  theological  subjects,  were 
particularly  in  danger  of  alteration  at  the  hands  of  pious  scribes. 
Even  Chaucer  suffered  at  their  hands,  as  he  good-humoredly  tells 
us  in  the  following  stanza: 

"  Adam  Scrivener,  if  ever  it  thee  befall 
Boece  or  Troilus  to  write  new, 
Under  thy  long  locks  maist  thou  have  the  seal!, 
But  after  my  making  thou  write  more  trew, 
So  oft  a  day  I  mote  they  werke  renew. 
It  to  correct  and  eke  to  rub  and  scrape, 
And  all  is  thorow  thy  negligence  and  rape." 

Whatever  be  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  authorship  of  "  Piers  the 
Plowman,"  the  poem  is  full  of  good  matter.  Intensely  in  earnest, 
the  author  speaks  with  that  white-hot  sincerity  which  never  fails  to 
win  attention.  Perhaps  his  most  conspicuous  quality  is  hard  com- 
mon sense.  His  solution  of  the  labor  problem,  for  example,  is  to 
give  able-bodied  beggars  nothing  to  eat  but  horse-bread,  dog-bread, 
and  bones,  but  to  comfort  with  alms  the  naked  and  needy.  He  is 
not  a  reformer,  unless  the  desire  to  see  each  man  do  the  duty  that 
belongs  to  his  own  rank  in  life  is  to  be  a  reformer.  "  When  all 
treasure  is  tried,  Truth  is  the  best,"  says  he.  Among  his  significant 
sayings  are:  "  Even  the  righteous  sin  seven  times  a  day  ";  ''  Study  is 


58  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Wit's  wife";  "Thing  that  is  secret,  publish  it  never;  neither  laud 
it  for  love  nor  blame  it  for  envy."  Some  critics  say  that  he  has  no 
humor;  if  this  is  so,  he  at  least  displays  a  kind  of  savage  substitute 
for  it  when  he  says  that  Liar  found  no  refuge  until  Pardoners  had 
pity  on  him  and  made  him  one  of  themselves;  when  he  represents 
Glutton  as  being  so  drunk  that  he  walks  like  a  gleeman's  dog,  some- 
times aside  and  sometimes  backward ;  and  when  he  says  that  Sloth  is 
not  sudden,  even  in  his  confession,  because  he  is  too  lazy  to  do  any- 
thing suddenly.  The  highest  point  in  his  moral  teaching  is  reached 
in  the  dictum,  "  Disce,  Doce,  Dilige  (Learn,  Teach,  Love),"  which 
may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  the  author's  or  authors'  final  conclusion 
regarding  Do-Well,  Do-Better,  and  Do-Best. 

John  Wickliffe  (1320-1384)  has  often  been  spoken  of  as  the 
"  Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation  "  and  the  "  Father  of  English 
Prose."  The  former  title  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  began  by  fighting 
boldly  against  the  corruption  of  the  Catholic  clergy  and  ended  by 
proclaiming  a  rebellion  against  the  chief  doctrines  of  the  church. 
The  latter  rests  on  a  supposition  long  current  but  now  exploded  that 
he  himself  wrote  the  first  complete  translation  into  English  of  the 
Bible.  His  Protestantism  stirred  all  classes  in  his  day,  from  old 
John  of  Gaunt,  time-honored  Lancaster,  down  to  the  poor  priests,  or 
Lollards,  whom  he  organized  to  preach  his  doctrines.  If  he  did  not 
himself  write  the  translation  of  the  Bible  which  was  completed  in  his 
day,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  it  was  made  under  his  guidance  and 
inspiration.  At  all  events,  his  influence  was  so  powerful  that,  in  spite 
of  the  hatred  he  inspired,  he  was  left  undisturbed  until  his  death; 
but  that  hatred  was  so  great  that,  after  his  death,  his  body  was 
burned  and  the  ashes  thrown  into  the  River  Avon,  a  fact  which  has 
enriched  English  verse  with  at  least  one  immortal  stanza: 

"  The  Avon  to  the   Severn   flows, 
The  Severn  to  the  sea  ; 
And  scattered  wide  as  Wickliffe's  words 
Shall  Wickliffe's  ashes  be." 

As  a  means  of  setting  in  a  clear  historical  light  the  literature  of 
the  period  just  reviewed,  the  following  table  may  be  of  value: 


THE  ENGLISH 


59 


King 
Henry  III. 


Edward  I . 


Edward  II. 


Years 
1216-1273 


1273-1307 


1307-1327 


Contemporary 
Literature 


Modern 
Literature 


Events 
I22I  Friars  1210  "Ormulum" 

land  in  England 
1246   Welsh  1225 

rebel 
1277     Welsh 

conquered 
1298    Scotch 

conquered 
13 14  Bannock-     Marlowe's 


"Ancren  Riwle" 


1303    "Handlyng 
Sinne' ' 


Edward  III..     1327-1377 


Pichard  II . 


1377-1399 


burn 

1346    France 
and  Scotland 
conquered 

1349     Black 
Death 

1356  Poictiers 

1368  Wickliffe's 
Heresy 

138 1    Peasant 
Revolt 


"Edward 
II." 


1356     Mandeville's 

Travels 

1362     Piers 
Plowman 


Shakes- 
peare's 
"Richard" 
II." 

Great  as  it  is,  however,  the  value  of  the  writings  of  Mandeville, 

Langland,  and  Wickliffe  is  slight  in  comparison  with  that  of  another 

writer  of  this  period.     Among  the  names  of  English  literature  only 

those  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton  stand  distinctly  higher  than  that 

of  Geoffrey  Chaucer.    The  first  of  our  great  poets,  his  works  are  so 

important  that  he  must  have  a  chapter  to  himself. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

Who  was  Layamon? 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  poem  beginning:  "  Sumer  is  i-cumen 

in"? 
In  what  literary  form  were  Sir  Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight  written? 
What  was  the  subject  of  the  "Travels  of  Sir  John  Maundeville  "? 

5.  The  Monks  were  the  only  class  with  much  education  in  the  thirteenth 

and  fourteenth  centuries.     How  is  this  reflected  in  the  literature? 

6.  What  do  you  know  of  the  "  Vision  of  William  Concerning  Piers  the 

Plowman  "  ? 

7.  W'ho  is  known  as  "The  Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation"?     What 

was  his  work? 

8.  From  an  English  history  obtain  an  outline  of  England's  relations  to  the 

Continent  between  1216  and  1400. 
9'.  Write  a  three-hundred-word  composition  on  the  influences  that  came  to 

bear  upon  English  literature  before  1400. 
ID.  Have  we  found  anything  definitely  English  up  to  this  time? 

Suggested    Readings. — Sir    John   Mandeville's    "  Travels "    are   easy 
and  entertaining  from  cover  to  cover. 


CHAPTER  VI 

GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  (1332-1400) 

"Dan  Chaucer,  well  of  English  undefiled, 
On  fame's  eternal  beadroll  worthy  to  l^e  filed." 

— Spenser. 
"Dan  Chaucer,  the  first  warbler,  whose  sweet  breath 
Preluded  those  melodious  bursts  that  fill 
The  spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth 
With  sounds  that  echo  still." 

— Tennyson. 
"  He  is  a  perpetual  fountain  of  good  sense." 

— Drydcn. 

Periods  of  great  literary  activity  are  commonly  associated,  either 
as  cause  or  effect,  or  both,  with  periods  of  great  political  activity  and 
great  material  progress.  Homer  and  Hesiod  are  thus,  in  all  proba- 
bility, associated  with  the  Trojan  war  and  the  new  sense  of  national 
pride  which,  in  consequence  of  that  war,  must  have  sprung  into  being 
among  the  Greeks.  yEschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Aristophanes, 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Xenophon,  Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle 
stand  in  a  similar  relation  to  the  Grecian  triumph  over  Persia.  Virgil, 
Horace,  Ovid,  Catullus,  Livy,  and  Nepos  did  their  work  just  after  the 
Romans  had  conquered  Gaul,  Asia  Minor,  and  Egypt.  Dante, 
Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  lived  in  an  age  of  remarkable  political  activity 
in  Italy.  Spenser,  Bacon,  and  Shakespeare  belong  in  the  same  genera- 
tion with  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  new  sense  of  English  nationality 
that  grew  from  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada.  John  Milton's 
poetry  and  Oliver  Cromwell's  wars  are  first  cousins.  Lessing,  Schiller, 
and  Goethe  stand  in  a  somewhat  similar  relation  to  Frederick  the 
Great.  The  French  Revolution  and  the  Napoleonic  wars  had  a  share 
in  making  Wordsworth,  Byron,  Keats,  Shelley,  Scott,  Tennyson,  and 
Browning  what  they  were.  Bryant,  Longfellow,  Whittier,  Lowell, 
Holmes,  Emerson,  and  Poe  carved  the  ornaments  of  rhyme,  to  borrow 
Longfellow's  metaphor,  that  adorn  that  great  national  temple  of 
which  the  foundation  was  laid  by  Washington,  the  walls  built  b}'' 
Marshall,  Webster,  and  Clay,  and  the  roof  completed  by  Lincoln. 
To  the  rule  that  great  practical  achievements  go  hand  in  hand  with 

60 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  61 

jpreme  poetic  achievement,  the  age  of  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  though  we 
are  accustomed  to  look  upon  it  as  dark  and  barbarous,  will  be  found, 
upon  examination,  to  be  no  exception. 

The  fourteenth  century,  in  fact,  is  one  of  the  most  eventful  in 
Enghsh  history.  It  was  then  that  the  long  process  of  amalgamation 
'^etween  the  conquered  Saxons  and  the  victorious  Normans  drew  near 
impletion.  It  was  then  that  our  modern  English  first  became  the 
.anguage  of  the  court  and  cottage  alike.  It  was  then,  too,  that  the 
people  of  Britain  grew  aware  of  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  their 
heterogeneous  origin,  they  had  interests  in  common  and  foes  against 
whom  they  could  fight  side  by  side.  Material  progress,  successful 
campaigns  against  a  foreign  foe,  and  growing  political  freedom  were 
followed  naturally  by  investigation  into  science  and  philosophy,  by 
vigorous  writing  and  thinking  on  religious  subjects,  and  by  a  brilliant 
summer-time  of  literature. 

When  Chaucer  was  born,  Caedmon,  the  first  English  poet,  had 
been  dead  seven  hundred  years.  England  had  been  nearly  three 
hundred  years  under  the  sway  of  her  Norman  kings.  Edward  III  was 
just  entering  upon  his  long  and  glorious  reign.  In  Italy  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio,  and  Rienzi  were  young  men.  In  France  Froissart  was 
writing  his  chronicles.  William  Tell  had  just  won  independence  for 
Switzerland.  The  study  of  Greek  had  just  been  carried  into  Italy 
^>^cholars  who  had  fled  from  Constantinople  to  escape  the  Turks. 
Clocks,  cannon,  and  trial  by  jury  were  just  coming  into  existence. 
Spain  was  held  by  the  Moors,  Germany  was  as  little  known  as  Russia 
is  to-day,  and  to  the  men  of  that  day  Russia  was  more  of  a  sealed 
book  than  equatorial  Africa  is  to  us.  More  than  120  years  were 
destined  to  elapse  before  the  invention  of  printing  and  more  than 
150  before  the  discover^'  of  America. 

Before  Chaucer  was  twenty,  the  battle  of  Cressy  had  been  fought 
and  won.  Before  he  was  thirty,  this  had  been  followed  by  the  still 
more  inspiring  victory  of  Poictiers.  Before  he  was  thirty-five.  Sir 
John  Mandeville  had  given  his  fascinating  book  of  travels  and 
William  Langland  his  soul-stirring  "  Vision  "  to  the  world.  Before 
he  was  fifty,  Wickliffe  had  published  the  first  English  Bible.  He 
lived  to  witness  the  death  of  the  great  Prince  who  had  done  so  much 


62  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

for  the  glory  of  England,  the  imbecility  of  the  great  King  who  had 
added  so  much  to  her  power,  the  shameful  incapacity  of  his  successor, 
the  loss  of  vast  possessions  on  the  Continent,  the  rapid  and  significant 


7'**'»»^g:r-rf A  •»  r.-^^  .■?,-.  • 

:i 

^      1 

^^^Kj>                 \  >^H^^I 

1 

^  -*J 

^^^H*' 

x0^        hH 

1 

m^        fl 

^^^^^^^^H 

I 

tv            pi 

iiV^ 

i^^tttt^ 

"/  >.-^ 

GEOFFREY  CHAUCER 
1340  (?) — 1400   (?) 
From  a  MS.  in  the  British  Museum 


rise  of  the  power  of  Parliament,  the  final  deposition  of  Richard  II,  and 
the  accession  to  the  throne  of  Henry  IV. 

The  date  of  Chaucer's  birth  was  probably  1332;  the  date  of  his 
death  was  1400.  He  was  the  son,  tradition  says,  of  a  London  vintner. 
Of  his  life  but  little  is  actually  known.    That  he  was  well  educated ; 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  63 

that  he  was  a  man  of  polished  address;  that  he  was  a  lawyer,  a  soldier, 
and  a  courtier;  that  he  stood  high  in  the  favor  of  John  of  Gaunt; 
that  he  was  once  taken  prisoner  by  the  French;  that  he  went  several 
times  as  ambassador  to  foreign  courts;  that  he  was  arrested  and  fined 
two  shillings  in  his  younger  days  for  breaking  the  head  of  a  Fran- 
ciscan friar  in  Fleet  Street;  that  at  one  time  the  king  granted  him  a 
yearly  pension  of  twenty  marks  (equal  to  140  pounds  at  the  present 
time),  and  at  another  a  pitcher  of  wine  daily;  that  these  gifts  were 
munificently  supplemented  by  his  generous  patron;  that  he  was  an 
officer  of  the  customs  and  a  member  of  Parliament;  that  toward  the 
end  of  his  life  he  was  deprived  of  nearly  all  his  income,  owing  to  the 
action  of  certain  investigating  and  reforming  committees  appointed 
by  the  party  opposed  to  John  of  Gaunt;  that,  in  consequence,  he  was 
often  in  distress;  that  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Henry  IV,  upon  his 
accession,  was  to  relieve  him;  that  he  died  soon  after;  and  that  he  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  the  first  of  the  long  line  of  poets  whose 
remains  repose  in  that  stately  edifice — these  facts  are  about  all  that 
we  know  with  any  degree  of  certainty  of  his  career. 

From  his  own  writings  we  get  various  glimpses  of  his  character. 
He  himself  tells  us  that  he  loved  books. 

"  On  bookes  for  to  rede  I  me  delyte, 
And  to  hem  give  I  feyth  and  ful  credence," 

he  says,  but  he  makes  haste  to  add  that  he  loves  Nature  even  more, 

taking  pains  to  assure  us  that,  though  he  reverences  his  books 

"  So  hertely  that  there  is  game  noon 
That  fro  my  bokes  maketh  me  to  goon, 
But  it  be  seldom  on  the  holy  day, 
Save  certeynly  when  that  the  moneth  of  May 
Is  comen,  and  that  I  here  the  foiiles  singe,  [birds] 

And  that  the  floures  gynnen   for  to  springe, 
Farewell  my  boke  and  my  devocioun." 

It  is  certain  that  no  one  but  a  genuine  lover  of  Nature  could  have 
written  the  following  passage  descriptive  of  a  summer  morning: 

"  The  busy  lark,  the  messenger  of  day 
Saluteth  in  her  song  the  morrow  gay. 
And  fiery  Phoebus  riseth  up  so  bright 
That  all  the  orient  laugheth  of  the  light ! 
And  with  his  stremes  dryeth  in  the  greves,  [groves] 

The  silver  droppes,  hanging  on  the  leaves." 


64  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

It  is  equally  certain  that  no  one  but  a  close  and  accurate  observer  of 
men  could  have  gathered  and  shaped  the  abundant  wisdom  that 
adorns  his  pages.     Experience  alone  teaches  truths  like  the  following: 

"  Ther  n'is  no  werkeman,  whatever  he  be, 
Than  can  both  werken  wel  and  hastilie. 
This   wol  be   done  at   leisure  parfaitly." 

"  The  gretest  clerks  ben  not  the  wisest  men." 

"For   of    fortunes,  sharp   adversitie 
The  worci:  kind  of  infortune  is  this, 
A  man  that  hath  been  in  prosperitie 
And  hit  rememlier  when  it  passed  is." 

"  For  out  of  the  olde  fieldes,  as  men  saithe, 
Cometh  al  this  newc  corn  fro  yere  to  yere, 
And  out  of  olde  bokes,  in  good  faithe 

Cometh  al  this  newe  science  that  men  lere." 

His  gentle  blood  is  often  evident.     He  bids  us  remember  that 

"  He  is  gentil  that  doth  gentil  dedes  "  ; 

and  one  who  could  define  a  gentleman  as  well  as  he  must  have  been 
worthy  of  the  name  himself: 

"  Loke  who  that  is  most  vertuous  alway 
Prive  and  apcrt,  and  most  entendeth  ay      [discreet  and  open] 
To  do  the  gentil  dedes  that  he  can, 
And  take  him  for  the  greatest  gentilman." 

He  is  moral  and  high-minded,  too.  Few  of  our  poets  have  risen  to  a 
higher  ethical  plane  than  he  in  the  line: 

"  Truth  is  the  highest  thing  that  man  may  keep." 

We  learn  from  the  "  Canterbury  Tales  "  that  he  was  modest,  and,  like 
various  other  bards  of  earlier  and  later  days,  inclined  to  be  fat.  Like 
other  portly  people,  he  was  blessed  with  a  charitable  heart,  a  fondness 
for  good  eating  and  drinking,  and  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  witty 
stories  and  pungent  epigrams.  He  dwells  with  peculiar  relish  on  the 
description  "  of  mighty  ale  a  large  quart,"  on  the  Wyf  of  Bath  "  with 
her  jolie  whistle  wel  ywette,"  and  on  the  need  of  a  man  to  have  a  long 
"  spone,  if  he  wold  eat  with  a  fend."     His  simple  and  joyous  nature 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  65 

is  shown  by  his  cordial  love  of  flowers.  He  is  especially  fond  of  the 
daisy. 

"  Of  all  the  floures  in  the  mede, 
Than  love  I  most  these  floures  white  and  rede, 
Soch  that  men  callcn  daisies  in  our  toun,' 

he  says,  and  adds,  on  reflection, 

"  That  well  by  reason  men  it  callen  may 
The  daisie,  or  els  the  eye  of  day." 

Indeed,  after  all,  he  is  glad  to  return  to  Nature,  and  gives,  in  a  truly 
devout  spirit,  a  reason  that  may  perhaps  account  for  his  devotion  to 
her  when  he  characterizes  her  as 

"  Nature,  the  vicar  of  the  Almighty  Lord." 

• 
Chaucer's  works  may.  be  divided  into  three  bundles  corresponding 

roughly  with  three  periods  in  his  Hfe.  In  his  youth  and  early  man- 
hood he  w^as  much  in  France,  in  early  middle  life  not  a  little  in  Italy, 
and  so  far  as  we  know  during  the  whole  of  his  later  days  in  England. 
The  first  bundle  will  contain  "  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,"  "  The 
Complaint  to  Pity,"  "  The  Book  of  the  Duchess,"  and  some  minor 
poems,  which  are  all  directly  or  closely  translated  or  imitated  from 
the  French  and  are  French  in  form.  In  the  second  will  be  "  Troilus 
and  Criseyde,"  "  The  Knight's  Tale,"  and  "  The  Legend  of  Good 
Women,"  for  which  Chaucer  was  indebted  more  or  less  to  the  Italian 
Boccaccio.  The  third  will  include  "  The  Prologue  "  to  the  "  Canter- 
bury Tales  "  and  a  large  share  of  the  tales  themselves,  which  are 
intensely  English. 

Throughout  the  French  period  Chaucer  appears  as  an  imitator;  he 
was  teaching  himself  to  write,  as  James  Russell  Lowell  finely  says,  as 
a  child  learns  to  speak,  by  watching  the  lips  of  those  who  can  speak 
better  than  he.  In  the  Italian  period,  to  adopt  the  words  of  George 
Saintsbury,  though  his  themes  are  still  borrowed  ^nd  though  he 
still  embroiders  rather  than  weaves,  he  has  become  an  individual, 
if  not  yet  a  consummate,  poet.  In  the  third  or  English  period  he  is 
original  both  in  matter  and  in  manner.  "  Here,"  as  Dryden  said, 
"  is  God's  plenty." 

Chief  among  the  works  of  this  final  period  is  that  unrivalled  col- 
lection of  stories  known  as  "  The  Canterbury  Tales  ";  and  it  is  on 
5 


66  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

these  tales  and  the  matchless  narrative  that  connects  them  that 
Chaucer's  reputation  chiefly  rests.  They  entitle  him  to  be  con- 
sidered not  only  the  first  but  perhaps  the  best  of  English  writers  of 
short  stories.  The  best  of  them  are  the  product  of  a  mind  prepared 
by  long  familiarity  with  men  and  things  for  its  work,  a  mind  mellowed 
and  ripened  by  life  but  not  yet  soured  or  impaired  by  age.  The 
versification,  as  Matthew  Arnold  says,  is  divinely  liquid.  The  sly 
humor,  the  sympathy  with  common  things,  the  easy  style,  and  the 
frequent  flashes  of  perfect  poetry  grow  more  fascinating  with  each 
perusal. 

The  "  Canterbury  Tales  "  were  evidently  left  unfinished  by  the 
^author.  Of  the  plan  outlined  in  the  Prologue  but  little  more  than  a 
fourth  ife  comprised  in  the  poem  as  it  has  come  down  to  us.  Even  of 
those  tales  which  we  have  a  part  are  fragmentary.  Links,  too,  are 
lacking  here  and  there ;  verses  are  gone ;  and  the  manuscripts  differ  on 
many  points.  Some  entire  tales  have  been  lost  and  some  have  been 
inserted. 

Though  the  plan  may  have  been  suggested  to  Chaucer  by  that  of 
Boccaccio's  "  Decameron,"  it  had  certainly  been  used  by  several 
earlier  poets.  He  himself  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  Thomas  a 
Becket,  at  Canterbury,  meets  at  the  Tabard  Inn,  in  Southwark, 
London,  as  any  traveller  might,  with  a  mixed  company  bound  upon  a 
similar  errand.  Their  host,  Harry  Bailey,  a  jolly  fellow,  proposes 
to  accompany  them  to  Canterbury;  and  suggests  that  it  would  be  well 
to  beguile  the  tedium  of  the  way  with  stories,  he  who  shall  be 
adjudged  to  have  told  the  most  amusing  tale  to  be  treated  on  their 
return  to  the  Tabard  to  a  supper  at  the  expense  of  the  party. 
Although  the  shrewd  inn-keeper's  eye  to  business  is  clearly  apparent 
in  this  proposal,  it  is  accepted  with  alacrity.  Chaucer,  in  the  mean- 
time, has  been  getting  acquainted  with  the  company,  and  he  gives 
us  the  results  of  his  observations  in  the  series  of  portraits  that  com- 
pose the  bulk  of  the  "  Prologue."  It  is  agreed  that  each  person  shall 
tell  four  tales,  two  going  and  two  returning. 

In  the  tales  as  we  have  them  there  are  17,325  lines  and  24  stories 
told  by  23  people.  The  "  Iliad  "  contains  about  15,000  lines,  "  Para- 
dise Lost  "  about  10,000,  the  "  TRneid  "  about  10,000.     If  the  full 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER 


67 


plan  had  been  carried  out  there  would  have  been  136  tales,  as  in  the 
company  there  are  in  reality  34  persons.  The  stories  were  not  com- 
posed expressly  for  the  Canterbury  pilgrimage;  Chaucer  composed 
the  pilgrimage  to  fit  the  stories.  The  manuscripts  are  so  incomplete 
and  fragmentary  that  it  is  evident  the  tales  did  not  receive  Chaucer's 
final  revision.  The  characters  of  the  pilgrims  are  as  true  to  life  as 
Shakespeare's.    All  say  and  do  exactly  what  would  be  expected  of 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS 
An  illustration  from  Caxton's  second  edition  of  "The  Canterbury  Tales,"  printed  about  1488. 
How  many  of  the  pilgrims  do  you  recognize? 

real  men  and  women  under  the  same  circumstances.  This  is  really 
the  great  charm  of  the  tales.  Chaucer  seems  purposely  to  choose  his 
characters  from  the  middle  classes.  In  the  "  Canterbury  Tales  "  there 
are  no  lords,  no  beggars,  and  no  ladies.  There  are  three  women — 
the  Konne  Prioresse,  the  Attendant  Xonne,  and  the  Wyf  of  Bath. 
The  men  fall  roughy  into  five  classes.  The  Knighte  and  his  son, 
the  Young  Squyer,  represent  chivalry;  the  Clerk  of  Oxenford,  the 
Man  of  Lawe,  and  the  Doctor  of  Phisik,  learned  laymen;  the  Franke- 
lyn,  the  Ploughman,  and  the  Reeve,  countrymen ;  the  Monk,  the  Frerc, 


68  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

the  three  Priests,  the  Persoun,  the  Sompnour,  and  the  Pardoner,  nine 
in  all,  the  church;  the  Schipman,  the  Coke,  and  twelve  others  differ- 
ent mechanical  pursuits. 

From  the  Tabard  Inn  the  distance  to  Canterbury  was  56  miles. 
It  is  now  possible  to  make  the  journey  in  a  trifle  more  than  one  hour. 
In  Chaucer's  day  it  was  necessary  to  ride  four  days  through  morasses 
and  woods.  The  roads,  which  were  as  a  rule  little  more  than  bridle 
paths,  usually  ran  along  the  tops  of  the  ridges  in  order  to  avoid  as 
far  as  possible  the  quagmires  resulting  from  the  total  lack  of  drainage. 

The  stories  told  on  the  first  day  were  those  of  the  Knight,  the 
Miller,  the  Reeve,  and  the  Coke. 

The  Knight's  Tale,  which  is  2249  lines  long,  is  in  brief  as  follows: 

The  Knight's  Tale 

Theseus,  Duke  of  Athens,  on  his  way  home  after  conquering  and  wed- 
ding Ipohta,  queen  of  the  Amazons,  was  met,  when  ahnost  at  the  gates  of 
his  own  city,  by  a  company  of  ladies,  clad  all  in  black,  who  knelt  two  by 
two  in  the  highway  and  made  a  great  cry  and  woe.  When  he  enquired  why 
they  perturbed  so  his  triumph  with  crying,  the  oldest  lady  of  them  all 
informed  him  that  they  were  the  widows  of  Theban  noljlemen  who  had  been 
put  to  death  by  the  tyrant  Creon,  who  now  held  sway  in  that  city  and 
refused  burial  to  the  bodies  of  their  slain  lords.  They  prayed  him  therefore 
to  ride  forth  to  Thebes  and  take  suitable  vengeance  on  Creon.  Their  sorrow 
so  sank  into  his  heart  that,  without  entering  Athens  or  stopping  half  a  day 
to  take  his  ease,  he  set  out  for  Thebes,  fought  and  slew  Creon,  won  and 
razed  the  city,  and  restored  to  the  ladies  the  bones  of  their  husbands  that 
were  slain. 

After  the  battle  and  discomfiture,  there  were  found,  in  a  pile  of  dead, 
two  young  knights  of  royal  blood,  Palamon  and  Arcite.  Both  were 
grievously  wonndvjd  and  both  were  carried  prisoners  to  Athens,  where  for 
several  yei.r^    '^ey  were  confined,  Theseus  refusing  all  terms  of  ransom. 

i'his  passeth  yeer  by  j^eer  and  day  by  day 
Til  it  fell  once  upon  a  morn  in  May 
TTiat  Emelie,  that  fairer  was  to  scene 
Than  is  the  lily  in  her  stalkes  greene. 
And  fresher  than  the  May  with  flowres  newe — 
For  with  the  rose  colour  strof  her  hewe — " 

came  before  daybreak  into  the  garden  which  adjoined  the  tower  where 
the  two  noble  kinsmen  were  confined  This  Emelie  was  the  sister  of  Queen 
Ipolita.  It  so  chanced  that,  while  she  gathered  flowers  and  "  hevenly  song," 
she  was  seen  from  his  prison  window  by  Palamon,  who  therewithal  blent 
and  cried  "  a !  "  as  that  he  "  strongen  were  unto  the  herte."  When  Arcite 
set  his  eyes  upon  her  he  too  fell  straightway  in  love ;  her  beauty  hurt  him  so 

"  That  if  that  Palamon  is  wounded   sore 
Arcite  is  hurt  as  much  as  he,  or  more." 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  69 

The  result  was  a  long  and  none  too  amiable  argument  between  the  two 
young  gentlemen,  in  which  Palamon  maintained  that  he  saw  her  first  and 
that  Arcite  was  therefore  in  honor  bound  to  banish  all  thought  of  her  from 
his  mind,  while  Arcite  took  the  ground  that  love  has  nothing  to  do  with 
law  or  logic  and  declared  that  he  would  win  Emelie  if  he  could  in  spite  of 
Palamon. 

The  best  friend  of  Duke  Theseus  was  Duke  Perotheus,  who  "  loved  wel 
Arcite."  At  the  prayer  of  Perotheus,  Theseus  finally  released  Arcite  on 
condition  that,  if  he  were  ever  caught  in  Attica,  he  with  "a  swerd  should 
IcoC  his  heed."  Far  from  being  pleased  with  these  arrangements,  Arcite, 
because  he  could  no  longer  see  Emelie,  declared  that  he  must  henceforth 
dwelle 

"  Nought  in  purgatorie,  but  in  helle." 

Palamon,  on  the  other  hand,  was  so  fearful  that  his  rival  would  come  back 
with  an  army  and  win  Emelie  that  the  "  grete  tour  resowneth  of  his  yolling 
and  clamour." 

"  Now,  loveyeres,  axe  I  this  question, 
Who  hath  the  worse,  Arcite  or  Palamon? 
That  on  may  se  his  lady  day  by  day. 
But  in  prisoun  he  moote  dwelle  alway ; 
That  other  may  wher  him  lust  ryde  or  go, 
But  seen  his  lady  shal  he  never  mo." 

Arcite,  indeed,  after  his  return  to  Thebes,  sorrowed  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  waxed  lean  and  dry  as  any  shaft.  When  he  endured  had  a  year 
or  two  this  cruel  torment,  one  day  he  caught  a  great  myrour 

"  And  saugh  that  changed  was  al  his  colour." 

He  therefore  ventured  to  go  back  under  the  name  of  Philostrate  to 
Athens,  where  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  service  as  page  of  the 
chamber  of  Emelie  the  bright.  So  well  did  he  acquit  himself  in  this  capacity 
that  Theseus  made  him  squire,  after  a  year  or  two,  of  his  own  chamber, 
and  "  three  year  in  this  wise  his  life  he  led." 

Palamon  meantime  had  languished  seven  years  ',n,,  prison.  In  the 
seventh  year  in  May.  the  third  night  soon  after  midnight,  by  tii^plp.of  a  friend, 
however,  he  broke  prison,  and  before  day  had  hidden  himse'  ''  a  wood  near 
Athens.     When  morning  came, 

"  Tlie  busy  larke,   messager  of   day, 
Saluteth  in  her  song  the  morne  gray, 
And   fyry   Phebus  ryseth  up  so  bright 
Tliat  al  the  orient  laugheth  of  the  light." 

Arcite,  enchanted  bv  the  fairness  of  the  day,  rode  out  to  do  his  observance 
to  May,  and  loud  he  sang  "  against  the  sone-scheene," 

"  May,  with  al  thin  fioures  and  thy  greene, 
Welcom  be  thou,  wel  faire  freissche  May." 

But,  as  your  lover  is  "now  up,  now  doun,  as  boket  in  a  welle."  his  joy  was 
shortly  followed  by  melanclioly.  He  sat  him  down,  as  luck  would  have  it. 
directly  in  front  of  the  bushes  where  Palamon  had  hidden  himself  and  criefK* 

"  Ye  slen  me  with  your  eyhen,  Emelye ! " 


70  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

This  was  too  much  for  Palamon,  who  "  quook  for  ire  '"  and  started  up  as  he 
were  mad  out  of  the  bushes  thick,  crying  "  Arcite,  false  traitor  wikke !  " 
The  upshot  of  the  encounter  was  that  they  agreed  tlie  next  day  to  fight 
it  out  there  in  the  wood ;  and  in  the  meantime,  Arcite,  Hke  the  true  knight 
that  he  was,  brought  his  foe  meat  and  drink  and  cloth  for  his  bedding. 

When  they  met  Palamon  was  in  his  fighting  like  a  mad  lion  and  like 
a  cruel  tiger  was  Arcite  ;  but,  as  they  contended  up  to  their  ankles  in  blood, 
their   contest   was   interrupted   by   Duke   Theseus,    who,   with    Ipolita   and 
Emelie,  had  ridden  forth  to  hunt.     On  being  discovered  Palamon  begged 
him  to  give  neither  of  them  mercy  or  refuge,  crying  "  Slay  me  first,  for 
sacred  charity,  but  slay  my  fellow,  too,  as  well  as  me,  or  slay  him  first, 
for  this  is  Arcite."     At  this  Theseus  waxed  mightily  wroth :  but  the  queen, 
for  very  womanhood,  began  to  weep,  and  so  did  Emelie,  whereupon,  as  pity 
runneth  soon  in  gentle  heart,  aslaked  was  his  mood,  and  he  said : 
"The  god  of  love,  a!  bciiedicite, 
How  mighty  and  how  great  a  lord  is  he! 
Who  may  not  be  a  fole,  if  that  he  love? 
You  know  yourself  that  Emelie  may  not  wed  two.     Tlierefore  this  day 
fifty  weeks  each  of  you  shall  bring  a  hundred  knights  to   Athens,   and 
the  winner  of  the  combat  which  w-e  shall  hold  between  them  shall  have 
Emelie  to  wife." 

Both  of  the  lovers  acquiesced  joyfully  in  this  decision  and  set  out  to 
enlist  knights  for  the  tournament,  while  Theseus  busied  himself  in  building 
a  theatre  a  mile  about,  walled  of  stone,  and  dyched  all  about.  Eastward 
above  the  gate  there  were  an  oratory  and  an  altar  in  worship  of  Venus, 
westward  such  another  in  mind  and  memory  of  Mars,  and  northward  in  a 
turret  on  the  walls  a  third  in  honor  of  Diana. 

At  the  appointed  time,  for  love  and  for  increase  of  chivalry,  there  came 
to  Athens  with  the  rivals  a  great  company  of  noble  warriors.  Two  hours 
before  daybreak,  on  the  morning  set  for  the  contest,  Palamon  repaired 
to  the  east  gate  and  prayed  to  Venus  that  he  might  win  Emelie ;  the  goddess 
gave  a  sign  that  assured  him  that  his  prayer  was  granted.  At  the  third 
hour  up  rose  the  sun  and  up  rose  Emelie,  who  at  once  went  to  the  temple 
of  Diana  and  begged  the  goddess  that  she  might  remain  forever  unwed,  but 
was  assured  that  she  must  marry  one  of  her  lovers,  which  the  goddess  would 
not  tell.  At  the  fourth  hour  Arcite  betook  himself  to  Mars,  who  assured 
him  that  he  should  be  victorious. 

Ttiereupon  up  rose  in  heaven  such  great  strife  between  Venus,  the 
goddess  of  love,  and  Mars,  the  stern  god  army-potent,  that  Jupiter  was 
busy  it  to  stent,  until  Saturn  put  an  end  to  it  by  declaring  that  he  knew  a 
way  to  give  Palamon  his  lady  and  yet  allow  Arcite  to  win  the  tournament. 
To  make  a  long  story  short,  though  Palamon  performed  prodigies  of  valor 
in  the  combat,  he  wa  finally  captured  and  adjudged  loser:  but.  while 
Arcite  was  riding  victorious  about  the  lists,  Saturn  caused  a  fire  infernal 
to  frighten  his  horse,  he  was  thrown  violently,  and  so  injured  that,  after 
lingering  some  days,  he  expired.  Theseus,  who  loved  him  dearly,  sought  to 
comfort  himself  with  this  reflection : 

"  This  world  nys  but  a  thurghfare  ful  of  woe, 
And  we  ben  pilgrims  passyng  to  and  froe ; 
Deth  is  an  end  of  every  worldly  sore." 
However,  after  he  had  caused  the  remains  to  be  burned  v/ith  great  pomp, 
he  called  Palamon  and  Emelie  to  him,  and  commanded  them  to  wed,  justi- 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  71 

fying  his  decision  on  the  ground  that  it  is  wisdom  to  "  maken  vertu  of 
necessite." 

"  And   thus  with  blys  and  eek  with  melodye 
Hath  Palamon  y-wedded  Emelie.'' 

The  Miller  tells  a  story  in  which  the  chief  character,  a  carpenter, 
plays  an  unheroic  part,  at  which  none  of  the  pilgrims  grieves  except 
Osewald  the  Reeve,  who  is  himself  a  carpenter.  To  get  even,  he 
follows  with  a  tale  about  a  miller  who  was  made  equally  ridiculous. 
The  Coke's  story  has  been  made  familiar  to  everybody  by  Shakes- 
peare's ''  As  You  Like  It,"  but  in  all  probabihty  it  was  not  written 
by  Chaucer. 

The  first  night  was  spent  at  Dartford,  14  miles  from  London. 
They  slept  late,  and  started  again  at  ten  o'clock,  Harr\'  Bailey  distin- 
guishing himself  by  swearing  at  e\er\-thing.  In  fact,  he  rareh'  opens 
his  mouth  at  all  without  letting  fall  several  new  oaths. 

The  first  tale  of  the  second  day  is  told  by  the  Man  of  Lawe,  who 
prefixes  his  remarks  by  the  declaration  that  all  the  good  stories  have 
been  told  already  by  one  Geoffrey  Chaucer.  His  story  is  the  Tale 
of  Constance,  only  daughter  of  the  Roman  Emperor  Tiberius  Con- 
stantine,  who  converted  the  people  of  Barbar\^  and  married  the 
Sultan  on  condition  that  he  become  a  Christian.  Shortly  after,  the 
Sultan's  mother  killed  her  son  at  a  banquet,  and  set  Constance, 
adrift  on  the  sea.  Carried  to  Britain,  she  was  accused  of  murder, 
saved  by  her  piety,  and  married  to  the  King.  The  machinations  of 
a  second  malicious  queen-mother  caused  her,  in  the  absence  of  her 
husband,  to  be  set  adrift  a  second  time,  along  with  her  infant  son. 
Picked  up  by  a  Roman  fleet,  she  was  restored  first  to  her  father, 
and  finally  to  her  husband,  who  had  put  his  unnatural  mother  to 
death  on  returning  home. 

The  Shipman's  Tale,  which  is  borrowed  from  Boccaccio,  comes 
next:  and  it.  in  turn,  is  followed  by  that  of  the  Prioresse.  the  legend 
of  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  a  little  '"  clergioun,"  killed  b\'  the  Jews  in  Asia. 
The  child  when  liWng  had  loved  the  Virgin,  who  appeared  to  it  as  it 
was  d^-ing  and  put  a  grain  under  its  tongue,  so  that  still,  though 
dead,  it  kept  singing,  O  Alma  Rcdemptoris  Mater. 

Harry    Bailey,    upon    the   completion   of    this    tale,    calls    upon 


72  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Chaucer  for  something.  The  poet  responds  with  the  "  Rime  of  Sir 
Thopas  "  which  starts  out  as  a  playful  burlesque  on  the  endless 
rhyming  romances  so  popular  at  that  time.  Thirty-three  stanzas 
exhaust  Harry  Bailey's  patience  to  such  an  extent  that  he  cries  out  in 
a  rage,  "  Mine  eres  aken  for  thy  drasty  speche,"  and  demands  some- 


THE   MONK 
From  an  old  manuscript  in  the  University  Library,  Cambridge 
The   courtesy   of    the    Macmillan    Company,   from    "English   Literature,   An   Illustrated 

Record" 

thing  in  prose.  Chaucer,  however,  has  his  revenge.  He  good- 
naturedly  replies  that  he  will  tell  a  "  litel  thing  in  prose."  This 
"  litel  thing  "  is  the  tale  of  Meliboeus,  a  production  70  pages  long 
and  as  dry  as  an  old-fashioned  country  parson's  sermon  on  a  bright 
May  morning,  when  the  birds  are  singing  out  of  doors.  As  Chaucer 
finishes  they  are  approaching  Rochester,  30  miles  from  London. 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  73 

The  Monk's  tale  follows.     Harry  wants  a  story  of  hunting,  but 

he  gets  an  account  of  various  tragedies — Lucifer,  Adam,  Samson, 

Nebuchadnezzar,   Balthazar,  Hercules,  Zenobia,  Nero,  Holofernes, 

Antiochus,  Alexander,  Caesar,  Crcesus,  and  about  a  dozen  more.    The 

knight  objects;   also  the  host.     The  Nonnes  Preeste  is  then  called 

upon  to  tell  something  merry.     He  responds  with  one  of  the  finest 

tales  in  the  collection,  the  story  of  Chanticlere  and  Daun  Russel  the 

Fox.    The  description  of  the  hero  is  a  careful  study  in  color: 

"  His  comb  was  redder  than  the  fyn  coral 
And  batayled  as  it  were  a  castel  wal ; 

His  bil  was  blak  and  as  the  geet  it  schon.  [jet] 

Like  asure  were  his  legges  and  his  ton;  [toes] 

His  nayles  whiter  than  the  lily  flour, 
And  like  the  burnischt  gold  was  his  colour." 

The  villain's  picture  is  drawn  with  equal  art: 

"  His  colour  was  bitwixe  yolow  and  reed  ; 
And  tipped   was  his   tail,  and  both  his  eeres 
With  blak,  unlik  the  remenaunt  of  his  heres. 
His  snowt  was  smal,  with  glowing  yen  tweye."  [(\V(?.y] 

Chanticlere,  like  other  husbands,  discourses  learnedly  and  somewhat 

disingenuously  to  his  wife  Dame  Pertelote,  even  going  so  far  in  the 

impudence  born  of  superior  classical  training  to  say  to  her: 

"  For,  al  so  siker  as  In  priiicipio 
Alulier  est  ho))iiiiis  confiisio; 
Madame,  the  sentence  of  this  Latyn  is. 
Woman  is  mannes  joy  and  al  his  blis." 

For  all  his  learning,  however,  he  and  his  wives  are  real  barnyard 

fowls,  drawn  to  the  life,  as  is  evident  from  the  following  lines: 

"  And  with  a  chuk  he  gan  hem  for  to  calle, 
For  he  had  found  a  corn,  lay  in  the  yerd." 

"  He  lokith  as  it  were  a  grim  lioun  ; 

And  on  his  toon  he  rometh  up  and  doun  ; 

Him  deyneth  not  to  set  his  foot  to  grounde. 
*  He  chukkith,  whan  he  hath  a  corn  i-founde, 

And  to  him  renneth  then  his  wives  alle." 

"  Faire  in  the  sond,  to  bathe  her  meriW, 
Lith  Pertelote,  and  alle  hir  sustres  by, 
Agayn  the  sonne.'" 

Upon  this  happy  scene,  like  Satan  into  Paradise,  came  Daun 
Russel  the  Fox.  Unlike  Satan,  however,  he  chose  to  beguile  the  hus- 
band rather  than  the  wife,  praising  his  heavenly  voice  until,  ravished 


74  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

by  his  flattery,  Chanticlere  stood  high  upon  his  toes,  stretched  his 
neck,  held  his  eyes  closed,  and  began  to  crow,  whereupon  Daun 
Russel  by  the  garget  (throat)  hente  Chanticlere  and  on  his  back 
toward  the  wood  him  bore.  Such  cry  and  lamentation  was  never 
made  by  the  ladies  of  Troy  when  Pyrrhus  hent  King  Priam  by  the 
beard,  as  made  the  hens  when  they  beheld  this  sight.  The  noise 
roused  the  widow  who  owned  the  chickens  and  her  daughters  two; 
they  cried,  "Out!  Harrow  and  welaway!  "  And  after  the,  fox 
they  ran,  as  did  likewise  many  another  man  and  woman  with  a 
distaff  in  her  hand.  Ran  cow  and  calf  and  also  the  very  hogs.  The 
ducks  cried.  The  geese  for  fear  flew  over  the  trees.  Out  of  the  hive 
came  the  swarm  of  bees.  "  If  I  were  you,"  said  Chanticlere  to 
Daun  Russel,  "  I  would  say  to  these  pursuers: 

"  Turneth  again,  ye  proude  cherles  alle ; 
A  verray  pestilence  upon  you  falle. 
Now  am  I  come  unto  this  woodes  syde, 
Maugre  your  hede,  the  cok  shal  heer  abyde ;  [Despite] 

I  wol  him  etc  in  faith,  and  that  anon." 

The  fox  answered:  "  In  faith  it  shall  be  done."    As  soon,  however, 

as  he  opened  his  mouth,  the  cock  broke  nimbly  away,  and  high  upon 

a  tree  he  flew  at  once.     The  moral,  to  quote  the  words  of  the  fox 

when  he  perceived  that  his  prey  had  escaped,  is:  "  God  give  him 

mischance  that  jangleth  when  he  should  hold  peace." 

Harry  Bailey  applauds  this  tale,  and  with  it  the  second  day  ends. 

The  third  day  opens  with  the  story  of  the  Doctor  of  Phisik. 
There  is  no  introduction.  The  story  is  that  of  Virginius,  which 
can  be  read  in  a  modem  form  in  Macaulay's  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome." 
It  has  a  deep  effect  on  Harry  Bailey. 

"  '  Harrow  !  "  quod  he,  '  by  nayles  and  by  blood. 
This  was  a  cursed  thief,  a  fals  justice.'" 

The  Pardoner  follows,  but  has  to  stop  for  a  glass  of  ale  and  a 
cake  before  beginning.  His  story  tells  how  riotous  persons  were 
undone  by  their  own  vice.  Three  revellers  are  directed  by  an  old 
man  to  a  wood  in  which  he  tells  them  they  will  find  death.  They 
go  thither  intending  to  slay  him.  Instead  of  death  they  find  more 
than  eight  bushels  of  gold  florins.  One  of  their  number  is  sent  for 
bread  and  wine,  while  the  others  guard  the  treasure.  While  he  is 
gone,  they  plot  his  death.     He,  in  turn,  poisons  two  of  the  three 


GEOFFREY  (  IIAUCER  "^^ 

bottles  of  wine  which  he  brinj^s.  Thus  all  meet  Death,  and  the 
prophecy  of  the  beggar  is  accomplished.  At  this  point  the  Pardoner 
begins  to  try  to  sell  pardons  to  the  company,  which  nearly  causes 
a  riot.  After  order  has  been  to  some  extent  restored,  the  Wyf  of 
Bath  has  her  opportunity.  She  is  probably  the  most  remarkable 
character  of  the  work.  She  has  had  five  husbands  and  would  like 
another.  She  tells  all  about  these  unfortunate  gentlemen  and  how 
she  got  rid  of  them.  The  Pardoner  has  been  flirting  with  her,  but 
her  prologue,  which,  quite  in  keeping  with  her  character,  is  much 
longer  than  her  story,  seems  to  cool  his  ardor  somewhat. 

Her  story  is  of  the  Knight  Florentius,  who  was  condemned  to 
death  unless  he  could,  within  a  certain  time,  answer  the  question, 
"  What  do  all  women  most  desire?  "  He  was  returning  to  his  death, 
when  he  met  a  horrible  hag  in  a  wood,  who  offered  to  save  his  life 
if  he  would  marry  her.  He  consented;  she  told  him  to  answer  that 
what  women  most  desire  is  sovereignty  over  man;  his  life  was  saved 
in  consequence,  and  he  married  her,  though  with  loathing,  where- 
upon she  was  transformed  into  a  lovely  maiden.  Asked  whether 
he  would  have  her  fair  at  night  or  by  day,  he  replied  that  she  might 
decide;  by  this  proof  of  perfect  obedience,  the  spell  which  bound  her 
was  completely  broken  and  henceforth  she  was  lovely  both  day 
and  night. 

The  Summoner  and  Friar  follow  with  tales  intended  to  heap 
ridicule  on  each  other.  The  pilgrims  are  now  40  miles  from  London 
and  they  stop  for  dinner.  Meanwhile  the  Clerk  is  called  upon, 
and  tells  the  story  of  Patient  Griselda,  "  The  flower  of  wifely 
patience,"  which  he  professes  to  have  learned  from  Petrarch. 
Griselda's  husband  pretends  to  kill  her  children  and  heaps  all  sorts 
of  other  indignities  upon  her,  all  of  which  she  bears  v/ithout  complaint. 

The  merchant  thinks  Griselda  is  too  good  to  be  real,  so  he 
relates  his  own  experience,  and  tells  a  story  of  an  old  man  married 
to  a  young  wife.  With  this  the  third  day  ends.  They  are  now 
46  miles  from  London. 

In  the  morning,  the  Squyer  tells  the  story  of  Cambuscan  (Ghenghis 
Khan — 1227- — the  terror  of  China),  a  most  beautiful  tale,  though 


76  ENGLISH  LI lERATURE 

unfinished.     It  drew   from   Milton   the  wish   that  we   might   have 
back  Musaeus  or  Orpheus,  or 

"  him  that  left  half  told 
The  story  of  Camhuscan  l)old, 
Of  Cambell  and  of  Algarsife 
And  who  had  Canace  to  wife. 
That  owned  the  virtuous  ring  and  glass ; 
And  of  the  wondrous  horse  of  brass 
On  which  the  Tartar  king  did  ride." 

(//  Pcnscroso,  109-115) 

Next  a  rather  uninteresting  story  from  the  second  nun  is  inter- 
rupted by  the  appearance  of  a  rascally  alchemist  and  his  servant. 
The  former  announces  to  the  company  that  he  can  make  gold;  but 
Harry  Bailey  shrewdly  asks  why  he  doesn't  get  himself  some  decent 
clothes,  if  that  is  really  the  case.  Thereupon  his  servant  declares 
that  the  alchemist  is  a  fraud,  and  tells  a  story  of  a  similar  deceit 
by  a  similar  trickster,  while  his  master  for  very  shame  runs  away. 

Everybody  but  the  parson  has  now  entertained  the  company, 
but  he  refuses  to  tell  an  idle  tale,  and  insists  on  giving  a  long  moral 
sermon  in  prose.  The  subject  is  penitence.  Some  critics  hold  that 
Chaucer  was  a  Wickliffite,  and  that  his  homily  was  originally  in 
defence  of  Wickliffe's  views,  but  has  failed  to  come  down  to  us  as 
he  wrote  it. 

Chaucer  did  not  invent  these  plots.  Like  Shakespeare,  he  originated 
none  of  them.  Ip  common  with  Virgil,  Milton,  Pope,  and  Tennyson, 
he  drew  without  scruple  from  every  source  that  he  knew  and  all 
that  he  touched  he  improved.  Here,  indeed,  is  the  true  alchemy. 
A  tale  goes  into  the  crucible  of  his  genius  base  iron  or  brass;  it 
comes  forth  pure  gold.  For  those  days,  he  was  learned.  With  Latin, 
French,  and  Italian  he  was  familiar.  He  knew  Ovid  and  Lucan 
and  Virgil.  He  pillaged  from  the  Seven  Sages  and  the  "  Disciplina 
Clericalis."  He  borrowed  several  tales  from  Boccaccio.  He  was 
indebted  also,  though  not  to  any  great  extent,  to  Petrarch;  and  he 
owes  to  Dante  obligations  which,  though  less  apparent  than  his 
obligations  to  those  already  mentioned,  are  far  deeper  and  greater 
than  they. 

Of  Chaucer's  dialect  a  word  must  be  said.  The  difficulties  of 
understanding  him  have  been  much  exaggerated.     Matthew  Arnold 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  77 

says  they  are  no  greater  than  the  difficulties  of  understanding 
Burns;  and  Hke  them  ought  to  be  unhesitatingly  met  and  overcome. 
The  principal  facts  that  the  student  should  keep  in  mind  are  that 
many  of  his  words  still  retain  the  French  accent;  that  the  final  e 
is  to  be  pronounced  as  a  separate  syllable  except  when  it  is  followed 
by  a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel  or  the  letter  h;  and  that  the  past 
termination  of  the  verb,  "  ed,"  is  usually  a  separate  syllable.  Some 
traces  of  Anglo-Saxon  grammar,  like  the  inflections  of  the  personal 
and  possessive  pronouns,  and  a  few  Teutonic  verb  forms  are  still 
retained.  In  spite  of  this,  the  service  which  Chaucer  performed  for 
the  language,  by  harmonizing  its  elements  and  creating  a  uniform 
standard  for  written  speech,  in  place  of  the  chaos  that  reigned  before 
his  day,  was  incalculable. 

Many  writers  have  endeavored  to  modernize  his  tales,  but  without 
success.  Dryden,  Pope,  and  Wordsworth  can  reproduce  the  sub- 
stance of  his  verse,  but  its  charm  is  so  subtle  and  evanescent  that  it 
vanishes  when  an  attempt  is  made  even  by  the  most  skilful  and  loving 
hands  to  transplant  it  from  its  quaint  mediaeval  soil  into  our  modern 
speech.  Their  attempts  to  modernize  Chaucer  remind  one,  indeed, 
of  Emerson's  experience  when,  charmed  by  the  beauty  of  the  shells 
on  the  seashore,  he  gathered  a  few  of  them: 

"  I  fetched  my  seaborn  treasures  home. 
But  the  poor,  unsightly,  noisome  things     ' 
Had  left  their  beauty  on  the  shore 
With  the  wind  and  the  waves  and  the  wild  uproar." 

In  Chaucer's  own  day  he  was  very  popular.  One  of  his  con- 
temporaries called  him  "  the  grete  translateur."  Another  hailed  him 
as  the  "  floure  of  eloquence."  A  third  gave  him  the  epithet  of  "  the 
noble  rethor  poete  of  Britayne."  His  works  were  among  the  first 
printed  by  Caxton.  Cower,  Occleve,  Lydgate,  and  James  I,  to  say 
nothing  of  scores  of  inferior  writers  in  the  generation  immediately 
following  his  death,  were  enthusiastic  disciples  and  at  times  slavish 
imitators  of  his  methods.  Occleve  made  our  only  portrait  of  him 
and  bewailed  his  death  in  lines  that  ring  clear  with  sincerity: 

"  O  mayster  dere  and  fadir  reverent, 
My  mayster  Chaucer,  floure  of  eloquence, 
Mirrour  of  fructuous  entendement, 
O  universal  fadir  in  science," 


78  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Posterity  has  regarded  Chaucer  with  varying  favor.  Caxton 
declared  him  the  first  of  English  poets.  Dryden  called  him  a  per- 
petual fountain  of  good  sense.  Spenser's  "  well  of  English  undefiled  " 
has  become  proverbial.  Wordsworth,  Hazlitt,  Howitt,  Warton, 
Waller,  Akenside,  Thomson,  Lowell,  Taine,  are  loud  in  his  praise. 
Cowley  thought  he  was  unmusical.  To  Byron  he  seemed  contempt- 
ible. Johnson  grudgingly  admitted  his  merit.  But  his  place  in 
literature  is  fixed.  His  fame  is  secure.  Spenser  is  more  richly 
fanciful  than  he,  Dryden  more  vigorous.  Pope  smoother  and  wittier, 
Milton  more  sublime,  Byron  more  fiercely  passionate,  Swinburne 
and  Tennyson  more  varied  and  splendid  in  technique,  Wordsworth 
higher  and  purer  from  a  moral  standpoint,  Shelley  and  Browning 
fuller  of  the  essential  fire  and  essence  of  purely  spiritual  things — 
but  none  of  our  other  poets,  except  Shakespeare  himself,  is  so  natural, 
so  gay,  so  easy,  and  so  thoroughly  at  home  and  in  sympathy  with 
the  little  things  that  after  all  go  to  make  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
vast  majority  of  lives  as  Geoffrey  Chaucer. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  is  the  historic  background  that   makes  the  career  of  Geoffrey 

Chaucer  a  plea  for  the  affirmative  upon  the  question,  "  Are  periods 
of  Uterary  activity  usually  associated  with  periods  of  great  political 
and  material  activity  ?  '' 

2.  From  the  standpoint  of  historical  importance,  what  is  the  radical  differ- 

ence between  Chaucer  and  his  contemporaries? 

3.  What  three  national  points  of  view  played  a  special  part  in  the  shaping 

of  Chaucer's  mind? 

4.  Why  is  it  better  to  overcome  the  difificulties  of  dialect  and  read  Chaucer 

in  the  original  than  to  read  modernized  versions  ? 

5.  Is  the  character  of  Chaucer  revealed  in  his  works? 

6.  Make  a  three-minute  speech  concerning  the  things  that  Chaucer  would 

enjoy  in  our  day. 

7.  Why  should  an  American  man  or  woman  read  Chaucer? 

8.  Name  three  romances  of  Chaucer  other  than  those  found  in  the  "  Canter- 

bury Tales." 
Q.  Name  eight  of  the  characters  who  went  upon  the  Canterbury  Pilgrimage. 
10.  Write  a  five-hundred-word  sketch  presenting  the  itinerary,  the  charac- 
ters, and  the  stories  told  on  the  Canterbury  pilgrimage. 

Suggested  Readings. — By  all  means  the  Prologue  to  the  "  Canterbury 
Tales,"  tlie  "  Knight's  Talc,"  and  the  "  Nun's  Priest's  Tale,"  all  in  the 
original,  even  if  it  seems  a  bit  hard  at  first.  Lowell's  "  Essay  on  Chaucer" 
is  also  too  good  to  omit  reading. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  (1400-1500) 

"The  grand  old  ballad  of  Sir  Patrick  Spens." — Coleridge. 

"  Robin  Hood,  the  English  ballad  singer's  joy." — Wordsworth. 

"  Malory,  who  reaches  one  hand  to  Chaucer  and  one  to  Spenser, 
escaped  the  stamp  of  a  particular  epoch  and  bequeathed  a  prose  epic  to 
literature." — Alice  D.  Grcemvood. 

"  William  Caxton,  our  first  printer." — E.  Gordon  Duff. 

The  century  that  follows  the  death  of  Chaucer  is  justly  con- 
sidered the  most  barren  in  English  literature.  This  is  due  largely 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  a  period  of  civil  war.  The  conflicts  of  the 
houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  to  secure  the  throne,  which  are  com- 
monly known  as  the  War  of  the  Roses,  kept  the  land  in  a  state 
bordering  on  anarchy.  Henry  IV  (1399-1413)  had  a  struggle  to 
establish  his  authority;  Henry  V  (1413-1422)  gave  promise  of  being 
a  wise,  strong,  and  good  king,  but  unfortunately  died  young;  the 
first  half  of  the  reign  of  his  son,  Henry  VI  (1422-1460),  was  marked 
by  disaster  abroad  and  the  latter  half  by  rebellion  at  home;  though 
Edward  IV  (1460-1483)  did  indeed  prove  a  reasonably  strong 
monarch,  his  son  Edward  V  was  murdered,  1483;  and  Richard  III 
(1483-1485)  waded  through  slaughter  to  the  throne.  It  was  not 
until  the  accession  of  Henry  VII  (1485-1509),  the  first  of  theTTudor 
kings,  that  there  was  much  chance  for  literature  to  flourish. 

Chaucer's  genius,  as  was  natural,  produced  a  horde  of  imitators 
both  in  England  and  in  Scotland.  The  first  of  these  in  time  was 
John  Gower  (1320-1408),  whom  Chaucer  half  mockingly  called  the 
"  moral  Gower,"  an  epithet  which  has  ever  since  clung  to  him.  Being 
uncertain  whether  French,  Latin,  or  English  would  eventually  prove 
the  literary  language  of  England,  in  order  to  make  his  fame  secure 
he  composed  the  "  Speculum  Meditantis  "  in  French,  the  "  Vox 
Clamantis  "  in  Latin,  and  the  "  Confessio  Amantis "  in  English. 
These  are  all  intolerably  dull.  James  Russell  Lowell  says  he  did 
not  know  how  to  rhyme  and  Coleridge  calls  him  almost  worthless. 
Thomas  Occleve  (1370-1454),  author  of  the  "  Governail  of  Princes," 

79 


80  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

has  two  titles  to  our  regard:    first,  he  made  the  only  portrait  of 

Chaucer  that  we  have;    second,  he  wrote  these  Hnes: 

"  O  master  dear  and  father  reverent. 
My  master  Chaucer,  flower  of  eloquence, 
Mirror  of  fructuous  intendement, 
O  universal  father  in  science  !  " 

John  Lydgate  (1373-1460)  was  a  voluminous  monk  of  Bury,  who 

wrote  the  "  Story  of  Thebes,"  the  "  Destruction  of  Troy,"  etc.     He 

was  enormously  popular  in  his  own  century,  "  because,"  says  George 

Saintsbury,  "  he  united  all  its  own  worst  faults." 

In  Scotland  the  imitators  of  Chaucer  were  more  numerous  and 

more  poetical   than   those   in   England.      Among   them   were   King 

James  I   (1394-1437),  who  wrote  the  "King's  Quhair   (Quire)"; 

Robert  Henryson  (c.  142S-C.  1500), ''Scholemaster  of  Dunfermeling," 

and  author  of  "  Moral  Fabillis  of  Esope,"  "  Orpheus  and  Eurydice," 

and   "The  Testament   of   Cresseid  ";    William   Dunbar    (c.    1460- 

c.  1520),  a  half  vagabond  friar  of  noble  birth,  who  produced  over  a 

hundred  short  poems;  and  Gavin  Douglas  (c.  1475-1522),  Bishop  of 

Dunkeld,  who  has  the  distinction  of  being  our  first  translator  of 

Virgil.     The  best  of  these  poets  was  Dunbar,  whom  Sir  Walter  Scott 

thought  superior  to  Burns.     The  following  description  of  a  giant 

may  serve  as  a  sample  of  his  style: 

"  Eleven  mile  wide  met  (measure)  was  his  mouth, 

His  teeth  was  ten  ell  square. 
He  would  upon  his  toes  stand 
And  take  the  stars  down  with  his  hand 
And  set  them  in  a  gold  garland 

Above  his  wyfis  hair." 

Along  with  these  learned  and  courtly  imitators  of  Chaucer  there 

flourished  in  Scotland  many  popular  writers,  whose  names  are  now 

lost  but  whose  poems  survive.    One  interest  of  these  lies  in  the  fact 

that  they  are  direct  poetic  ancestors  of  Burns,  redolent  of  field  and 

kennel.    The  metre  of  "  Peblis  to  the  Play  "  and  "  Cristis  Kirk  on 

the   Grene  "  is  identical  with   that  of   Burns's  "  Holy   Fair  "  and 

"  Holy  Willie's  Prayer  ";   and  the  "  Wowing  of  Jok  and  Jynny  " 

begins  exactly  like  his  "  Duncan  Gray." 

"  Robeyn's   Jok   come  to   wow   our  Jynny, 
On  our  first  even  when  we  were  fou." 

Some  of  them,  however,  especially  those  filled  with  "  browneis  and 


f 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


81 


bogilis,"  have  an  interest  of  their  own.  Such  is  the  story  of  "  Gyre 
CarHng,"  in  which  a  witch  escapes  her  lover  by  turning  herself  into 
a  sow  and  going  '"  gruntling  to  the  Greik  Sie,"  where  she  marries 
Mahomet  and  becomes  queen  of  the  Jews,  whereat  the  cocks  of 
Cramond  cease  to  crow  and  the  hens  of  Haddington  will  not  lay. 
Such,  too,  is  the  yarn  of  King  Berdok,  who  for  seven  years  wooed 
the  cuckoo  of  Maryland,  and  yet  ''  she  was  but  yeiris  thre."     This 


Paper-Making    in    the    Fifteenth  Century 
From"Stande  andHandwerker,  "by  Jobst  Amman.    Used  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Macmillan 
Company,  from  "English  Literature,  An  Illustrated  Record" 

bonny  bird  had  but  one  eye.  Berdok  finally  abducted  her  in  a  bag 
on  his  back,  but  when  he  opened  it  he  found  it  full  of  gulls.  Mercury 
saved  him  from  the  wrath  of  the  faery  king  by  turning  him  into  a 
bracken  bush.  Some  of  these  poems  have  a  touch  of  nature  which 
remains  fresh;  for  example: 

"  Go   walk   upon   some   river    fair. 
Go  take  the  fresh  and  wholesome  air, 
Go  look  upon  the  flowery  fell. 
Go  feel  the  herbe's  pleasant  smell." 
6 


82  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

The  best  English  poetry  of  the  period  was  also  popular  in  charac- 
ter. It  consists  of  songs  and  ballads.  These  are  not  interchangeable 
terms,  though  both  songs  and  ballads  were  designed  to  be  sung.  A 
song  is  a  lyric;  that  is,  it  expresses  some  mood  or  feeling;  in  other 
words,  it  is  subjective.  A  ballad,  on  the  other  hand,  is  epic;  it  tells 
a  story:  it  is  objective. 

Most  of  the  songs  of  the  period  are  simple,  but  some  of  them 
perfectly  express  a  state  of  feeling,  which  is  the  precise  function  of  a 
song.     For  example: 

"Trolly,  lolly,  loly,  lo, 
Syng  troly,  loly  lo. 
My  love  is  to  the  grene  wode  gone 
And  after  wyll  I  go ; 
Sing  trolly,   loly,   lo,   lo,   ly,   lo." 

Others  tell  a  story,  as  this  does: 

"  Maiden  in  the  moon  lay 
Seven  nights  full  and  a  day; 
Well,  what  was  her  meat? 
The  primrose  and  the  violet. 
Well,  what  was  her  dring? 
The  chill  water  of  the  spring. 
Well,  what  was  her  l)ower? 
The  red  rose  and  the  lily  flower." 

Some  still  popular  student  songs,  among  them  the  "  Gaudeamus 
Igitur,"  are  found  in  the  song  collections  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

A  ballad  is  a  narrative  poem  without  any  known  author,  meant  for 
singing,  and  handed  down  by  oral  tradition.  Conditions  favorable 
to  the  making  of  such  poetry  ceased  to  exist  after  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Bishop  Percy  in  1765  printed  a  collection  of  ballads  under  the 
title  of  "  Reliques  of  Ancient  England  Poetry,"  which  restored  them 
to  their  rightful  place  in  our  literature;  and  F.  J.  Child  between  1892 
and  1898  published  in  Boston  in  five  volumes  a  collection  of  "  English 
and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads,"  which  practically  exhausts  the  subject. 
This  work  contains  305  ballads  and  1300  versions,  as  many  of  them 
have  come  down  to  us  in  several  forms.  These  poems  deal  with 
border  warfare,  as  is  seen  in  "  Chevy  Chace  "  and  the  "  Battle  of 
Otterburn;  "  with  the  sea,  like  the  grand  old  ballad  of  "  Sir  Patrick 
Spens;  "  with  life  under  the  greenwood  tree,  especially  as  exemplified 
in  the  life  and  deeds  of  Robin  Hood;  with  tragedy,  comedy,  and 


THE  END  OE  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  83 

love.  At  their  best  they  tell  a  good  story  and  are  fresh  with  the  open 
air,  with  wind,  and  with  sunshine.  Take  them  all  in  all,  they  are 
among  the  most  attractive  of  English  poems.  Several  writers  in  the 
last  two  centuries  have  imitated  them  with  success,  especially  Long- 
fellow in  his  "  Skeleton  in  Armor  "  and  Coleridge  in  the  "  Rime  of 
the  Ancient  Mariner."  Still,  the  old  ballads  have  a  flavor  which  no 
modern  writer  has  been  able  entirely  to  reproduce.  ^ 
n/  English  prose,  on  the  other  hand,  was  hardly  written  between 
1400  and  1500,  though  parliamentary  and  legal  business  began  to  be 
transacted  in  the  vernacular  instead  of  in  Latin  or  French.  Three 
generations  of  the  Pastons,  a  well-to-do  Norfolk  family,  however, 
preserved  their  letters  and  business  documents,  and  these  afford  a 
good  picture  of  the  times.  They  show  a  state  of  anarchy  which 
must  have  made  life  quite  as  exciting  as  that  depicted  in  Parkman's 
histories  or  Cooper's  novels.  Children  had  a  hard  time.  Dame  Agnes 
Paston,  for  example,  after  one  of  her  sons  had  been  graduated  from 
college  and  had  begun  the  study  of  law  in  London,  writes  to  his  tutor 
praying  him,  if  the  boy  fails  to  get  his  lessons,  to  "  trewely  belassch 
hym  tyl  he  will  amend,  and  so  did  the  last  mayster  and  the  best  that 
evir  he  had,  att  Caumbrege."  Daughters  were  regarded  as  expensive 
encumbrances.  Dame  Agnes  taunted  hers  constantly,  forbade  her 
to  speak  to  anyone,  and  beat  her  sometimes  twice  a  day.  The  only  sign 
of  parental  affection  in  the  letters  is  in  the  anxiety  of  one  John  about 
his  "  lytell  Jak";  he  writes,  "  Modyr  I  beseche  yow  that  ye  wolbe 
good  mastras  to  my  lytell  man  and  to  se  that  he  go  to  scole."  Books 
were  supplied  by  professional  scribes,  and  were  so  expensive  that  stu- 
dents rented  rather  than  bou'-ht  them.  A  cheap  Bible  cost  two 
marks,  nearly  seven  dollars,  the  equivalent  of  $70.00  to-day,  and  a 
handsome  folio  about  twice  as  much. 

Better  times,  however,  were  at  hand.  About  1450  the  first  print- 
ing press  was  set  up  at  Mainz  in  Germany.  The  art  was  carried  in 
1465  to  Italy,  in  1470  to  France,  in  1471  to  Holland,  in  1473  to  Bel- 
gium and  Austria,  in  1474  to  Spain,  and  finally  in  1476  by  William 
Caxton  to  England.  He  had  previously  owned  a  press  at  Bruges, 
whence  in  1475  he  had  issued  the  "  Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of 
Troy,"  the  first  book  printed  in  the  English  language,  and  the  "  Game 


84  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

and  playe  of  the  Chesse."  The  first  two  large  books  which  he  printed 
in  England  were  Chaucer's  "  Canterbury  Tales  "  and  the  "  History 
of  Jason."  Thenceforward,  until  his  death  in  1491,  Caxton  must  have 
been  a  very  busy  man.  He  printed  in  all  over  50  books,  of  which 
at  least  a  third  were  translations  which  he  made  himself.  For  these 
and  many  of  the  others  he  wrote  prologues  and  epilogues.  The  list 
includes  history,  romance,  poetry,  books  of  devotion,  and  school 
books.  Aside  from  his  position  as  the  father  of  English  printing, 
Caxton  has  two  great  claims  to  our  gratitude.  He  was  such  an 
ardent  admirer  of  Chaucer  that  he  set  up  a  tablet  in  Westminster 
Abbey  to  his  memory;  and  he  labored  to  unify  the  English  language, 
which  worried  him,  as  it  worries  some  people  of  to-day,  because  it 
altered  so  rapidly.  "  Certaynly,"  he  wrote,  "  our  langage  now  used 
varyeth  ferre  from  that  whiche  was  used  and  spoken  when  I  was 
borne."  The  fact  that  changes  went  on  at  different  paces  in  dif- 
ferent places  made  dialects  that  it  was  hard  to  understand;  for 
instance,  when  a  merchant  asked  a  woman  for  "  eggs,"  she  thought 
he  was  speaking  French,  so  he  had  to  demand  "  eyren."  "  And  thus," 
writes  the  old  printer,  "  between  playn,  rude,  and  curious  I  stand 
abasshed,  but  in  my  judgemente  the  comyn  that  be  dayli  used  ben 
lyghter  to  be  understonde  than  the  olde  and  auncyent  englysshe." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  phenomena  that 
resulted  from  the  introduction  of  printing  was  the  impetus  it  gave 
to  the  writing  of  prose.  So  long  as  books  were  scarce  and  dear, 
oral  transmission  of  literary  material  retained  an  importance  which 
it  is  now  hard  to  comprehend.  So  long  as  such  oral  transmission 
retained  its  importance,  metrical  composition  remained  supreme. 
The  mediaeval  romances  are  almost  without  exception  in  verse.  When 
Caxton  began  to  print,  however,  he  found  that  the  reading  public 
bought  prose  more  readily  than  poetry.  In  his  effort  to  satisfy  this 
preference  he  himself  made  a  compilation  of  stories  known  as  the 
"  Golden  Legend  "  and  he  printed  a  compilation  of  the  stories  of 
King  Arthur  under  the  title  of  the  "  Morte  d'  Arthur." 

The  latter  is  on  the^hole  the  most  important  book  of  the  fifteenth 
century.    Its  author,  Sir  Thomas  Malory,  was  probably  a  Lancas- 


THE  END  OE  111 E  :\m)DEE  AGES 


85 


trian  knight  who  perished  as  a  result  of  the  triumph  of  the  House 
of  York.     It  was  completed  about  1461. 

Malory    modernized,    unified,    and    humanized    the    Arthurian 


.^^TBs^ 


C  Sirnge  lapc^acDc  cucc  Dulpott 


^a 


From  the  Metrical  Romance  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  (1528).  The  courtesy  of  the  Mac- 
millan  Company  from  "English  Literature,  An  Illustrated  Record" 


legends,  and  did  his  work  so  well  that  even  Tennyson  with  his 
"  Idylls  of  the  King  "  cannot  be  said  entirely  to  have  supplanted  it. 
As  Caxton  in  his  preface  quaintly  and  truly  says,  "  Herein  may  be 


86  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

seen  noble  chivalrye,  curtosye,  humanyte,  friendynesse,  hardynesse, 
love,  friendship,  cowardyce,  murdre,  hate,  vertue,  and  synne." 

Throughout  the  century,  however,  the  intellectual  Hfe  of  the 
nation  was  centred  mostly  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  The  former 
had  been  at  least  since  1200  the  seat  of  a  great  university.  King 
John  in  1209  had  frightened  3000  students  away  from  its  cloisters  by 
hanging  three  of  their  number  for  a  crime  which  somebody  else  had 
committed.  Cambridge  University  was  in  existence  in  1229.  The 
early  history  of  both  institutions  was  marked  by  brawls  between 
town  and  gown,  the  history  of  which  sounds  strangely  familiar  to  an 
American  who  has  as  Alma  Mater  one  of  our  newer  colleges.  The 
shifts  to  which  impecunious  students  were  put  in  order  to  continue 
their  education  also  smack  strangely  of  the  United  States.  They 
handled  shovels,  carried  earth  and  bricks,  waited  at  table,  begged 
on  the  highway,  and  sang  from  door  to  door.  Here,  however,  the 
resemblance  ends.  The  faculties  were  composed  exclusively  of  mem- 
bers of  the  clergy'.  The  course  of  study  for  the  undergraduate  con- 
sisted of  the  trivium,  which  comprised  grammar,  logic,  and  rhetoric; 
when  these  had  been  mastered  he  was  proclaimed  Art  turn  Bacca- 
laurens,  "  Bachelor  of  Arts,"  and  passed  to  the  study  of  the  quadri- 
vium — arithmetic,  geometry,  music,  and  astronomy — his  conquest  of 
which  was  rewarded  by  the  degree  of  Artium  M agister,  "  Master  of 
Arts."  Instead  of  passing  written  examinations,  the  student  was 
compelled  to  debate  in  public  and  to  deliver  lectures.  When  he  com- 
pleted his  course  he  knew  about  as  much  grammar,  geography,  and 
arithmetic  as  a  boy  now  does  w^hen  he  enters  the  high  school,  enough 
music  to  sing  a  mass,  and  enough  astronomy  to  determine  the  date 
of  Easter.  He  could  argue  skilfully  about  questions  that  are  not 
worth  arguing  about,  but  he  knew  next  to  nothing  about  literature 
and  nothing  about  science.  If  by  chance  he  showed  a  taste  for  the 
latter,  he  was  suspected  of  an  alliance  with  the  Saracens  or  the  devil. 
From  this  state  of  darkness  England  was  rescued  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury' by  those  two  great  world  movements  which  are  known  as  the 
Renascence  and  the  Reformation. 

The  following  table  ma}^  serve  at  once  as  a  historical  review  of 
the  fifteenth  century  and  a  guide  to  illustrative  reading: 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


87 


Kings 

Henry  IV — 
1399-1413 


Henry  V 

I 4 13- I 422 


Henry  VI...  . 
1422-1461 


Edward  IV . . 
1461-1484 


Edward  V . . . 

1483 
Richard  III.. 
1483-1485 

Henrj^  VII.... 
1 485- 1 509 


Events 

Welsh  and  Civil 
Wars. 

English  defeat 
French  at 
Agincourt 

1415- 

Joan  of  Arc  d. 
1 431;  Cade's 
Rebellion. 

War  of  Roses. 


Battle  of  Tow- 
ton,  1461. 

E.  murdered. 

Battle   of   Bos- 
worth,  1485. 


Contemporary  Literature  Modern  Literature 


1408   Death  of  Gower. 


1420 
1424 


Ca.Kton  bom. 
Paston   letters 
begin . 


Shakespeare's 
"Henry  IV," 
Parts  I   and  2. 

Shakespeare's 
"Henry  V." 


1425    Henr\'son  bom. 
1437    Death  of  James  I 

of  Scotland. 
1450   Printing  invented. 
1454   Death  of  Occleve. 

1460  Death  of  Lydgate. 
Birth  of  Dunbar. 
Birth  of  Skelton. 

1461  "Morte  d'   Arthur' 

written. 

1475  Birth    o:     Gavin 

Douglas. 

1476  Caxton    sets    up 

press. 


1499 


1506 


Erasmus  and  Co- 
let     settle     in 
Oxford. 
Paston    letters 
end. 


Shakespeare's 
"Henry  VI," 
Parts  1, 2, and 3. 


Bulwer  Lytton's 
"  Last  of  the 
Barons." 


Shakespeare'  s 
"Richard  III." 

Kipling's    "The 
Wrong   Thing." 


QUESTIONS  AXD  EXERCISES 

1.  Describe  the  political  conditions  that  crushed  literary  activity  during  the 

fifteenth  century. 

2.  Gower  wrote  in  tnree  languages.     What  were  they  and  why  were  they 

those  which  they  were  ? 

3.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  song  and  a  ballad? 

4.  What  were  the  themes  of  some  of  the  fifteenth  century  ballads? 

5.  How  would  you  describe  Chaucer's  influence  upon  this  century? 

6.  Is  there  a  connection  between  the  invention  of  printing  and  the  end  of 

the  ballad  era;  if  so,  w^hat  ? 

7.  Before  printing  was  invented,  how  were  books  made? 

8.  What  prose  work  of  this  century  has  had  the  most  influence  on  modern 

literature? 

9.  Compare  the  studies  of  the  life  of  a  student  at  Oxford  in  the  fifteenth 

century  with  those  of   a  student  at   some  American   college  in   the 
twentieth. 
10.  By  reference  to  an  encyclopaedia,  write  an  outline  of  the  development  of 
the  mechanics  of  printing  from  Caxton's  time  to  our  own. 

Suggested  Readings. — Dip  into  Malory  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  read  the 
ballads  contained  m  Ward's  "  English  Poets." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
A  CENTURY   OF  EXPANSION    (1500-1600) 

"  Erasmus,  that  great  injured  name, 

The  glory  of  the  priesthood  and  the  shame." — Pope. 

"  '  Utopia,'  the  one  work  by  More  which  still  lives  in  all  the  freshness  of 
youth." — T.  M.  Lindsay. 

"The  best  features  of  the  translation  of  161 1  are  derived  from  the 
version  of  Tyndale." — Marsh. 

"  I  had  rather  have  thrown  ten  thousand  pounds  into  the  sea  than  have 
lost  my  Ascham." — Queen  Elizabeth. 

"  Sonnets  are  of  fouretene  lynes,  every  line  conteyning  tenne  syllables. 
The  first  twelve  do  ryme  in  staves  of  foure  lines  by  crosse  meetre,  and 
the  last  two  ryming  together  do  conclude  the  whole." — George  Gascoigne. 

"  Mr.  Chetwind  fell  commending  of  Hooker's  '  Ecclesiastical  Polity  '  as 
the  best  book  and  the  only  one  that  made  him  a  Christian,  which  puts  me 
upon  the  buying  of  it,  which  I  will  do  shortly." — Samuel  Pepys. 

"  Sidney  was  a  refinement  upon  nohWiiy."— Edinburgh  Review. 

"  The  most  perfect  model  of  an  accomplished  gentleman." — Hume. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  world  became  bigger  physically,  intel- 
lectually, and  morally.  This  phenomenon  was  due  to  three  circum- 
stances— the  progress  of  discovery,  the  Renascence,  and  the  Refor- 
mation. Under  Henry  Vll  (1485-1509)  the  Renascence,  or  Re- 
vival of  Learning,  made  a  good  beginning;  under  Henry  VIII  (1509- 
1547),  Edward  VI  (1547-1553),  and  Mary  (1553-1559)  the  war 
of  English  religious  independence  was  fought;  and  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  (1559-1603),  as  the  ripe  fruit  of  all  three  forces,  there 
came  a  period  of  literary  achievement  unequalled  in  the  annals  of 
mankind.  In  this  result  that  great  work  of  geographical  expansion 
which  began  with  the  discovery  of  America  had  no  small  share  in 
kindling  men's  imaginations. 

In  1453  the  Turks  captured  Constantinople  and  brought  to  an 
end  the  Roman  Empire  of  the  East.  This  event  had  been  long 
foreseen  and  in  anticipation  of  it  many  Greek  scholars  had  fled  to 
Italy.  Here  they  established  themselves  as  teachers  of  those  literary 
masterpieces  of  Greece  which  had  been  forgotten  for  ten  centuries 
in  western  Europe.  The  discovery  of  America  was  probably  received 
with  less  enthusiasm  than  the  rediscovery,  thus  made,  of  the  "  Iliad  " 
88 


A  CENTURY  OF  EXPANSION  89 

and  the  "  Odyssey,"  of  J'^schylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides,  of  Pindar 
and  Theocritus,  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  of  Plato  and  Xeno- 
phon,  and  above  all  of  the  Greek  Testament.  The  movement  thus 
inaugurated  is  known  as  the  Renascence,  or  New  Birth.  It  spread 
until  it  became  the  mark  of  all  well-educated  men  and  women  to 
read,  write,  and  speak  Latin,  and  to  know  something  of  Greek.  It 
revolutionized  literary  style.  It  hastened  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  and  thus  afforded  powerful  aid  to  the  Reformation. 
Finally,  it  broke  up  the  system  of  mediaeval  education  that  prevailed 
in  the  universities. 

The  pioneers  of  the  movement  in  England  were  John  Colet, 
William  Grocyn,  Thomas  Linacre,  and  Thomas  More.  All  of  them 
had  much  Greek  and  more  Latin.  Colet  founded  St.  Paul's  School. 
Linacre  wrote  a  Latin  grammar  which,  revised  by  William  Lily  and 
others,  became  and  still  is  the  "  Eton  Latin  Grammar."  Sir  Thomas 
More  wrote  in  Latin  a  book  on  sociology  which  remains  one  of  the 
world's  classics.  Probably  modelled  on  Plato's  "  Republic,"  it  pre- 
sents the  author's  idea  of  an  ideal  state  and  is  therefore  with  quaint 
propriety  called  "  Utopia,"  which  means,  "  No  Place."  The  teacher 
and  leader  of  all  of  these  humanists,  as  they  came  to  be  called,  was 
the  great  Dutch  scholar  Erasmus,  who  resided  for  several  years  in 
England.  In  1520  one-ninth  of  all  the  books  sold  by  a  certain 
Oxford  bookseller  were  from  his  pen.  Before  1545  his  "  Enrichiri- 
dion,"  a  small  religious  treatise,  had  passed  through  75  editions; 
before  1546  his  "  Colloquia,"  a  Latin  book  for  beginners,  had  been 
reprinted  no  less  than  98  times. 

The  result  of  all  this  was  a  revolution  in  educational  methods 
and  ideals.  In  his  "  Boke  of  the  Governour  "  (1531),  Sir  Thomas 
Elyot  (1490-1546)  lays  down  a  course  of  study  for  a  boy  who  is 
destined  to  be  a  ruler.  Up  to  seven  he  is  to  be  in  charge  of  a  nurse; 
from  seven  to  fourteen  he  must  learn  music,  painting,  carving,  ^sop's 
"  Fables,"  Lucian's  "  Dialogues,"  and  Homer.  Physical  training  is 
amply  provided  for.  He  is  to  wrestle,  swim,  dance,  shoot  with  the 
crossbow,  and  play  tennis.  Football,  however,  is  forbidden,  because 
"  there  is  nothing  therein  but  beastly  furie  and  external  violence, 
whereof  procedeth  hurte,  and  consequently  rancour  and  malice  do 


90 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


remaine  with  them  that  be  wounded."     The  student  should  contrast 
this  curriculum  with  that  of  the  preceding  century. 

That  deep  dissatisfaction  with  the  corruption  of  the  mediaeval 
church  which  is  foreshadowed  by  Chaucer's  satire  and  Wickliffe's 
sermonizing  enabled  Martin  Luther  in  Germany,  1513,  to  denounce 
indulgences  and  in  1520  to  burn  a  papal  bull  without  alienating 
popular  or  princely  favor.  The  result  was  that  great  religious  move- 
ment which  is  known  as  the  Reformation.    In  England  it  culminated 


The  High  Street,  Oxford 


in  1531  in  a  proclamation  which  declared  Henry  VHI  the  sole  head 
of  the  English  church  and  in  1539  in  the  suppression  of  the  abbeys. 
Among  its  causes  was  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  by  William 
Tyndale. 

His  life,  which  was  largely  devoted  to  the  accomplishment  of 
this  great  task,  was  probably  quite  as  full  of  excitement  and  danger 
as  that  of  Kit  Carson  or  Jesse  James.  He  was  born  in  Gloucestershire 
about  1484,  took  his  M.A.  degree  at  Oxford  1515,  became  a  tutor 
and  preacher  at  Sodbury,  and  about  1520,  in  consequence  of  his 
difficulties  in  reaching  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  parishioners, 


A  CENTURY  OF  EXPANSION 


91 


decided  that  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  was  needed.  In  1523, 
in  order  to  carry  out  this  design,  he  went  up  to  London,  where  he 
encountered  such  opposition  from  those  high  in  church  authority 
that  he  found  it  necessary  to  flee  to  Hamburg.  Thence  he  was  pur- 
sued to  Cologne  and  to  Worms,  but  succeeded,  1525,  in  sending  to 
England  two  editions  of  the  New  Testament,  one  in  quarto  and  one 
in  octavo.  The  king,  Henry  VIII,  decided,  152  7,  that  it  should  be 
"  brenned."     Prohibition,  however,  proved  a  failure.     New  editions 


The  Dining  Hall  at  Christ  Church  College,  O.xford 

were  multiplied.  Meanwhile  Tyndale,  pursued  from  place  to  place, 
was  busy  upon  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament.  Finally,  in 
May,  1535,  he  was  seized  at  Antwerp,  and  on  October  6,  1536,  was 
put  to  death  at  Vilvorde.  But  his  work  was  done.  The  New  Testa- 
ment was  already  common  in  England,  and  he  had  finished  the 
"Pentateuch"  and  "Jonah"  of  the  Old.  Miles  Coverdale,  after- 
ward Bishop  of  Exeter,  took  up  the  task  where  Tyndale  left  it. 
Times  had  now  changed ;  his  work  was  approved  both  by  Archbishop 
Cranmer  and  the  king,  and  in  1540  the  Great  Bible,  as  it  came  to 


d2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

be  called,  was  finally  set  up  in  churches.     The  translation  which 
was  thus  completed  remains  essentially  the  Bible  of  to-day. 

The  effect  of  the  Reformation  was  in  one  respect  disastrous.  In 
1539  Henry  VHI  suppressed  the  religious  houses  that  had  previously 
been  the  only  seats  of  learning  in  the  nation.  The  destruction  of 
books  that  followed  was  enormous.  Libraries  that  had  been  col- 
lected through  centuries  vanished  in  a  moment.  Precious  manu- 
scripts were  used  by  grocers  as  wrapping  paper.  The  leaves  of  the 
old  theologians  were  blown  about  by  the  wind  even  in  the  courts  of 
Oxford,  Tons  of  priceless  tomes  were  shipped  to  the  Continent. 
It  is  certain  that  many  of  the  treasures  of  early  English  literature  thus 
disappeared  forever.  The  number  of  students  who  were  graduated 
from  Oxford  fell  from  108  in  1535  to  an  average  of  57  in  Henry's 
reign  and  33  in  Edward's.  Another  class  also  suffered  by  the  closing 
of  the  religious  houses.  The  monasteries  had  kept  their  doors  open 
to  beggars.  Thomas  Harmon,  who  calls  himself  a  "  poore  gentle- 
man," tried  to  supply  their  place  by  keeping  open  house  for  all  sorts 
of  paupers,  but  gradually  discovered  that  the  objects  of  his  charity 
were  mostly  professional  impostors;  analyzed  their  "  depe  dissimu- 
lation and  detestable  dealynge  ";  and  gave  his  discoveries  to  the 
world  in  ''A  Caveat  or  Warning  for  Common  Corsetors,  vulgarely 
called  Vagabondes." 

The  destruction  of  the  old  learning,  however,  was  by  no  means 
an  unmitigated  evil.  It  was  like  the  ploughing  of  an  old  field.  The 
havoc  it  created  was  only  the  prelude  to  a  richer  life.  The  crop  that 
resulted  was  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  literature.  Before  the  end 
of  the  century  England  had  produced,  beside  a  horde  of  lesser 
writers,  the  prince  of  all  poets  and  the  prince  of  all  philosophers. 

Among  the  earliest  poets  to  feel  the  new  impulses  was  a  clergy- 
man and  courtier  named  John  Skelton  (1460-1529),  who  has  been 
called  the  father  of  English  doggerel.  Nobody  was  safe  against  his 
satire,  his  victims  ranging  from  two  of  his  parishioners  who  refused 
to  attend  church  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  whom  he  called  a  "  malyncoly 
mastyf  "  and  "  mangye  curre  dog,"  with  a  "  wolyus  hede;  wanne,  bloo 
as  lede."  He  himself  describes  his  verse  as  "  ragged,  tattered,  and 
Jagged,"  yet  he  was  proclaimed  poet-laureate  at  Oxford,  became  tutor 


A  CENTURY  OF  EXPANSION  93 

to  Henry  VIII,  was  praised  by  Erasmus,  was  an  honored  assistant  of 
William  Caxton,  apd  is  the  author  of  at  least  one  immortal  poem, 
the  following  lines  to  ''  Maystres  Margaret  Hussey:  " 

"  Mirrj-  Margaret,  Her  demeiiyng 

As  mydsomer  tiowre.  In  everythynge, 

Jentill  as  f awcoun  Far,  far.  passj-ng 

On  hawke  of  the  towre  ;  That  I  can  endyght 

With  solace  and  gladness,  Or  suffyce  to  wryght 

Moche  mirthe  and  no  madnes,  Of  mirry  Margaret, 

All  good  and  no  badnes,  As  mydsomer  fiowre 

So  joyously,  Jentyll  as  fawcoun 

So  maydenly.  Or  hawke  of  the  towre." 
So  womanly, 

In  Scotland  two  writers  of  the  period  deserve  notice.  The  first, 
Sir  David  Lindsay  (1490-1555),  the  personal  attendant  of  James  V, 
was  a  skilful  poet  and  an  ardent  reformer.  His  v.it  is  shown  in  his 
"  Complaint,"  in  which  he  asks  the  king  for  a  loan,  which  he  promises 
to  repay  when  kirkmen  cease  to  crave  dignities,  when  wives  no  longer 
desire  sovereignty  over  their  husbands,  or  when  a  winter  passes 
without  snow,  wind,  frost,  or  rain.  His  serious  zeal  is  seen  in  his 
"  Pleasant  Satyre  of  the  Thrie  Estaites,"  a  play  of  such  impressive 
dimensions  that  its  representation  lasted  from  9  a.m.  until  6  p.m. 

The  other  writer  was  John  Knox  (1505-1572),  the  leader  of  the 
Scottish  Reformation  and  its  chief  literary  exponent.  His  most 
picturesque  work,  his  "  First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet  against  the  ]Mon- 
strous  Regiment  of  Women,"  was  written  because  his  desire  to  preach 
in  England  and  Scotland  was  thwarted  by  the  two  Catholic  queens 
who,  in  1558,  occupied  their  thrones.  In  this  book  he  seeks,  by  citing 
the  classical  writers,  the  Roman  law,  the  Bible,  and  the  fathers, 
to  prove  that ''  to  promote  a  woman  to  beare  rule,  superiorite,  domin- 
ion, or  empire  above  any  Realme,  Nation,  or  Citie  is  repugnant  to 
nature,  contumelie  to  God,  a  thing  most  contrarious  to  his  reveled 
will  and  approved  ordinance."  His  "  Historie  of  the  Reformation  in 
Scotland  "  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  and  one  of  the  best  prose 
works  of  that  nation.  Written  to  justify  the  reformers,  it  aroused 
bitter  hatred  as  well  as  warm  approbation.  His  foes  called  him  a 
fanatical  incendiary-,  his  friends  the  light  of  Scotland.  Right  or 
wrong,  he  was  a  man — keen,  vigorous,  fearless.     He  has  one  claim 


94  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

to  the  gratitude  of  the  Scotch  the  value  of  which  cannot  be  disputed  : 
he  founded  a  system  of  free  public  schools  in  his  native  land  three 
centuries  before  one  was  established  in  England.  The  result  can  best 
be  stated  in  the  words  of  Macaulay:  "  An  improvement  such  as  the 
world  has  never  seen  took  place  in  the  moral  and  religious  character 
of  the  people.  Soon,  in  spite  of  the  rigor  of  the  cHmate,  in  spite 
of  the  sterility  of  the  earth,  Scotland  became  a  country  which  had 
no  reason  to  envy  the  fairest  portions  of  the  globe.  Wherever  the 
Scotchman  went — and  there  were  few  parts  of  the  world  to  which 
he  did  not  go — he  carried  his  superiority  with  him." 

In  his  educational  work  Knox  was  powerfully  assisted  by  George 
Buchanan  (1506-1582),  who  was  at  once  a  great  poet  and  a  great 
teacher.  His  life  was  consecrated  to  the  study  of  the  classical  writers 
and  their  interpretation.  His  most  famous  work  was  a  translation 
into  Latin  of  the  Psalms,  which,  until  recent  years,  was  read  in  every 
Scotch  school  where  Latin  was  taught.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  who 
despised  most  Scotchmen,  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Buchanan. 
When  somebody  asked  him  what  he  would  have  said  of  Buchanan  if 
he  had  been  an  Englishman,  Johnson  replied:  "  I  should  not  have  said 
of  Buchanan,  had  he  been  an  Englishman,  what  I  will  now  say  of  him 
as  a  Scotchman,  that  he  was  the  only  man  of  genius  his  country  ever 
produced." 

A  sonnet  is  a  poem  of  fourteen  lines  written  in  iambic  pentameters 
and  divided  into  two  stanzas,  one  of  eight  and  one  of  six  lines.  In 
the  following  sonnet  Wordsworth  at  once  shows  its  form,  tells  its 
history,  and  explains  its  power: 

"  Scorn  not  the  Sonnet :  Critic,  you  have  frowned 
Mindless  of  its  just  honors;  with  this  key 
Shakespeare  unlocked  his  heart ;  the  melody 
Of  this  small  lute  gave  ease  to  Petrarch's  wound; 
A  thousand  times  this  pipe  did  Tasso  sound; 
With  it  Camoens  soothed  an  exile's  grief. 
The   sonnet  glittered,   a  gay  myrtle  leaf, 
Amid  the  cypress  with  which  Dante  crowned 
His  visionary  brow;  a  glow-worm  lamp 
It  cheered  mild  Spenser,  called  from  Faeryland 
To  struggle  through  dark  ways  ;  and  when  a  damp 
Fell  round  the  path  of  Milton,  in  his  hand 
The  thing  became  a  trumpet,  whence  he  blew 
Soul-animating  strains — alas,  too  few  !  " 


A  CENTURY  OF  EXPANSION  95 

When  the  Renascence  turned  the  attention  of  cultured  Englishmen 
to  Italy,  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  (1503-1542)  discovered  the  sonnets  of 
Petrarch  and  introduced  the  form  into  English  literature.  Henry 
Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey  (1516-1547),  likewise  a  child  of  the  Renas- 
cence, made  an  even  more  important  contribution  to  English  litera- 
ture, by  importing  iambic  pentameter  blank  verse,  the  measure  in 
which  are  written  Shakespeare's  plays,  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost," 
Wordsworth's  "  Excursion,"  and  Tennyson's  "  Idylls  of  the  King." 
Nor  does  their  interest  end  here.  In  Wyatt  we  find  what  has  been 
called  the  personal  note,  a  characteristic  hitherto  absent  from  English 
poetry.  Surrey  translated  Virgil,  was  arrested  for  eating  meat  in 
Lent  and  breaking  windows  with  a  cross-bow,  was  a  soldier  and  a 
lover,  and  was  beheaded  because  Henry  VIII  feared  that  he  might 
aspire  to  the  throne.  Their  joint  work  formed  a  sort  of  handbook 
for  the  poets  who  followed. 

Those  poets  were  so  numerous  and  so  excellent  that  the  England 
of  Elizabeth  has  been  likened  to  a  nest  of  singing  birds.  Only  a 
few  can  be  mentioned  here.  Thomas  Sackville  (1536-1608)  planned 
the  "  Mirror  for  Magistrates,"  a  huge  work  in  which  are  depicted  the 
follies  and  mistakes  of  past  as  a  warning  to  future  rulers;  and  wrote 
"  The  Induction,"  or  preface,  which  challenges  comparison  with 
Virgil's  picture  of  Tartarus  and  Dante's  "  Inferno."  Thomas  Tusser 
(1524-1580)  wrote  on  agriculture.  In  his  poem  on  the  "  Properties 
of  Wind,"  he  says: 

"  Except  wind  stands  as  never  it  stood 
It  is  an  ill  wind  turns  none  to  good." 

In  the  Farmer's  "  Daily  Diet  ": 

"  At  Christmas  play  and  make  goqd  cheer, 
For  Christmas  comes  but  once  a'year." 

In  "  Five  Hundred  Points  of  Good  Husbandry  ": 

"  Such  master,  such  man ; 
Who  goeth  a  borrowing 
Goeth  a  sorrowing;" 

"  'Tis  merry  in  hall 
When  beards  wag  all." 

"  Naught  venture,  naught  have." 


&6  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Sir  Edward  Dyer  (1545-1607)  wrote  "  My  Mind  to  me  a  Kingdom 
Is,"  a  magnificent  didactic  poem.     John  Lyly's  lyric,  beginning 

"  Cupid  and  my  Campaspe  played 
At  cards  for  kisses  ;  Cupid  paid," 

is  one  of  the  most  attractive  in  the  language.  "  Content,"  "  Sephes- 
tia's  Song  to  her  Child,"  and  the  "  Shepherd's  Wife's  Song,"  by 
Robert  Green  (1560-1592)  are  filled  with  sweetness  and  light. 
Christopher  Marlowe's  (1564-1593)  "  Hero  and  Leander  "  in  melody 
is  a  not  unworthy  predecessor  of  Keats's  "  Endymion,"  and  his  "  Pas- 
sionate Shepherd  to  his  Love  "  is  a  perfect  lyric.  The  latter  was 
answered  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  (1552-1618)  in  ''The  Nymph's 
Reply,"  which  is  quite  its  equal.  Sir  Walter's  other  poems — "  The 
Silent  Lover,"  "  The  Lie,"  "  The  Sonnet  to  Spenser,"  and  the  lines  he 
wrote  the  night  before  his  execution — are  classics.  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
(1554-1586)  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  the  best  sonnets  in  the 
English  language.  All  of  these  poets,  however,  sink  into  insignificance 
when  compared  with  Edmund  Spenser.  Spenser,  indeed,  is  so  impor- 
tant that  he  must  have  a  chapter  to  himself. 

The  English  prose  of  this  period  was  also  rich  and  varied.  It 
owes  its  inspiration  partly  to  the  Renascence,  partly  to  the  Refor- 
mation, and  partly  to  the  new  spirit  of  English  nationality;  and  com- 
prises literary  criticism,  history,  fiction,  and  theology. 

The  first  faint  beginnings  of  English  literary  criticisms  are  dis- 
coverable in  those  passages  of  the  "  Canterbury  Tales  "  in  which 
the  pilgrims  object  to  the  "  Rime  of  Sir  Thopas"  and  the  "  Monk's 
Tale."  In  his  prefaces  Caxton  in  an  uncritical  but  sensible  fashion 
added  something  to  the  beginning  thus  made.  Roger  Ascham,  Sir 
John  Cheke,  and  Thomas  Wilson  in  the  early  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign 
went  further  still.  Of  these  men  Ascham  was  the  most  noteworthy, 
the  chief  idea  for  which  he  stood  being  the  use  of  plain  English,  a 
sound  morality  in  art,  and  the  imitation  of  the  writers  of  antiquity. 
In  1597  Stephen  Gosson,  who  had  been  converted  to  puritanism  in 
religion,  published  under  the  title  of  the  ''  School  of  Abuse  "  an  attack 
on  poetry,  which  was  answered  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney  in  his  "  Apologia 


A  CENTURY  OF  EXPANSION  97 

for  Poetrie  "  or  "  Defence  of  Poesie,"  in  which  he  defends  poetry  in 
general,  pays  tribute  to  the  old  English  ballads,  and,  like  Ascham, 
recommends  the  imitation  of  the  classical  poets  and  playwrights. 

The  history  of  the  period  is  a  kind  of  cross  between  real  history 
and  journalism,  the  chief  desire  of  the  writers,  like  the  chief  desire 
of  the  modern  reporter,  being  to  find  and  tell  good  stories.  Among 
them  the  most  important  were  Camden,  whose  "  Britannia  "  is  a 
priceless  mine  of  antiquarian  lore;  Holinshed,  whose  chronicles 
furnished  Shakespeare  with  the  plots  of  his  historical  plays;  Harrison, 
who  thought  the  English  were  being  corrupted  by  luxury;  Stow,  who 
lamented  deforestation  and  high  prices;  and  Sir  John  Hayward,  who 
aimed  to  be  the  Tacitus  of  England  with  such  success  that  Queen 
Elizabeth  kept  him  several  years  in  jail.  WTien  she  asked  Francis 
Bacon  if  he  could  find  any  passages  in  Hayward 's  book  which 
savored  of  treason,  he  replied,  "  For  treason  surely  I  find  none,  but 
for  felony  very  many."  And  when  the  queen  asked  him  wherein, 
he  told  her  that  the  author  had  stolen  most  of  his  sentences  from 
Cornelius  Tacitus. 

The  Reformation,  as  was  natural,  produced  much  theological 
writing.  Of  this  the  most  exciting  is  found  in  John  Foxe's  "  Book 
of  Martyrs,"  published  1559.  This  work,  which  abounds  in  blood 
and  fire,  though  it  is  as  big  as  an  encyclopaedia,  was  as  popular  as 
a  dime  novel.  Scarcely  less  delectable  are  a  series  of  pamphlets  by 
an  unknown  Puritan  who  called  himself  IMartin  Marprelate,  which 
appeared  1583-1589  as  a  part  of  the  battle  waged  by  the  Presby- 
terians in  their  efforts  to  get  control  of  the  English  church.  The 
pamphlets  themselves  are  so  clever  that  they  have  found  a  permanent 
place  in  literature,  while  the  story  of  the  way  in  which  their  writer 
was  tracked  from  place  to  place  by  the  agents  of  his  exasperated  foes 
until  his  presses  were  destroyed  and  he  himself  put  to  silence  reads 
like  a  chapter  of  Sherlock  Holmes.  Before  this  end  was  achieved, 
several  men  were  arrested,  and  one  was  hanged,  though  it  is  probable 
that  he  was  not  the  real  culprit.  The  style  of  the  Marprelate  pam- 
phlets has  been  aptly  compared  to  that  of  a  monologue  artist  in  a 
vaudeville  show.  Perhaps  the  smartest  of  them  is  the  one  directed 
against  Bishop  Cooper.  Its  title,  "  Hay  any  work  for  Cooper,"  is  the 
7 


98  ENGTJSTI  LITERATURE 

cry  of  the  coopers  who  went  from  house  to  house  soh'citing  employ- 
ment; and  its  atmosphere,  as  somebody  says,  is  thick  with  tubs, 
barrels,  and  hoops.  Richard  Hooker  (1553-1600)  in  1594  published 
the  first  four  volumes  and  in  1597  the  fifth  of  a  work  of  an  entirely 
different  character,  entitled  "  Of  the  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity," 
which  is  at  once  a  defence  of  the  established  church  of  England  and 
a  noble  plea  for  religious  freedom,  charity,  and  reason. 

The  most  original  prose  of  this  period,  however,  is  found  in  the 
field  of  fiction.  It  was  in  the  latter  half  of  the  Sixteenth  century 
that  the  word  "  novel  "  first  appeared  in  the  English  language  and 
that  the  first  crude  examples  of  this  type  of  literature  were  written. 
In  1578  John  Lyly  published  "  Euphues,  the  Anatomy  of  Wit,"  and 
in  1580  "  Euphues  and  his  England."  In  the  former  Euphues,  a 
young  Athenian,  appears  in  Naples;  forms  a  friendship  with  Philau- 
tus;  falls  in  love  with  Philautus's  betrothed,  Lucilla;  and  is  jilted  by 
her.  In  the  latter,  Euphues  and  Philautus  go  to  England,  where 
Philautus  falls  in  love,  is  jilted,  and  consoles  himself  by  falling  in 
love  again,  this  time  successfully,  whereupon  Euphues  praises  England 
and  leaves  it.  Lyly  intended  to  write  a  moral  treatise  but  accidentally 
invented  the  novel.  His  style,  which  has  been  called  a  "  cunning 
courtship  of  fair. /words,"  is  dainty ^nd  artificial,  but  it  pleased  his 
contemporaries,  and  Shakespeare  did  him  tlie  honor  of  imitating  it  in 
some  passages  and  of  ridiculing  it  in  others.  Lyly  was  particularly 
popular  with  the  ladies;  indeed,  he  himself  says  "  '  Euphues  '  would 
rather  lie  shut  in  a  ladye's  casket  than  open  in  a  Scholler's  studie." 
He  really  did  a  good  deal  to  improve  the  variety  and  smoothness 
of  English  prose. 

In  159Q,  four  years  after  its  author  was  killed  in  battle  at 
Zutphen,  Holland,  there  appeared  "  Arcadia',"  a  romance  by  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  which  has  been  called  "  The  Faerie  Queene  "  in  prose, 
being  full  of  fierce  wars  and  faithful  loves.  Sidney  was  regarded  by 
his  contemporaries  as  the  flower  of  chivalry;  Spenser  called  him 
"  that  most  heroick  spirit,  the  heaven's  pride,  the  glory  of  our  days  "; 
and  to  writers  of  a  later  day  he  has  been  a  refinement  upon  nobility, 
the  perfect  model  of  a  gentleman,  Maecenas  and  Marcellus  united. 
In  the  "  Arcadia  "  these  qualities  are  reflected  and  it  is  therefore 


A  CENTIRY  OF  KXl'AXSION 


09 


superior  in  dignity  and  simplicity  to  "  Euphues."  Sidney's  work  was 
highly  popular  and  much  imitated  by  later  writers.  It  supplied 
Shakespeare  with  the  underplot  of  Gloster  and  his  sons  in  ''  King 
Lear." 


^gag^^ 

,.■  '■■■ 

^^^a 

F¥ 

ifife-      '../ir-isifej; 

^.n 

•    II  lilllllll   ""   ^     \"       ii'.Lt^ 

'i^s^is 

^Mm 

^^i 

m "  ,-'^J^^:^- 

li^''  •■■' 

^■;"  .■  4.*-'«  ^T"-  •., 

\''^i^' 

.sr   **.  Jf 

M    '^-'W'>'l5v 

\    i.  .-    ' 

%  ■'%,/.  - 

■%^^''^'m' 

't        -^  , 

^^^Sbc'^jbI 

Wvifl 

r^'ES 

3BBI|f 

SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY 
1554-1586 

Four  other  novelists  of  this  period  deserve  a  passing  word.  These 
were  Robert  Greene  (1560-1592),  Thomas  Lodge  (1558-1625), 
Thomas  Nashe  (1567-1601),  and  Thomas  Deloney  (1543-1600?). 
In  his  life  Greene  was  the  opposite  of  Sidney,  being  a  dissipated 
Bohemian;  three  early  romances  of  his  belong,  however,  in  the  same 


UX1  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

oUuss  with  the  "Arcadia."  They  are  "  Pandosto "  (1588), 
"  Porimedos  the  Blacksmith"  (1588),  and  "  Menaphon  "  (1589). 
From  the  first  of  these  Shakespeare  took  the  plot  of  "  A  Winter's 
Tale."  Lodge's  best  story,  "  Rosalynde,"  has  a  similar  distinction, 
as  it  furnished  the  basis  of  "  As  You  Like  It."  In  his  later  stories, 
Greene  turned  from  Arcadia  to  London,  and  gave  numerous  realistic 
pictures  of  low  life,  as  did  Thomas  Nashe,  who,  like  Greene,  "  lived 
hard,  wrote  fiercely,  and  died  young."  Nashe's  chief  work,  "  The 
Unfortunate  Traveller  or  the  life  of  Jack  Wilton,"  is  what  is  known 
as  a  picaresque  novel,  the  hero  being  an  English  page  whose  chief 
characteristic  is  "  a  malignant  and  insatiable  love  of  mischief."  The 
picaresque  novel  originated  in  Spain,  but  Nashe  did  more  than 
imitate  his  Spanish  originals.  By  introducing  Jack  Wilton  into  the 
society  of  Erasmus,  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  IMartin  Luther,  he  really 
invented  the  historical  novel.  While  Lyly,  Sidney,  Greene,  and 
Lodge  in  their  romances  dealt  mainly  with  gallants,  and  Greene  and 
Na=he  in  their  realistic  novels  with  rogues,  Thomas  Deloney  has  the 
distinction  of  discovering  and  painting  the  humor  and  romance  of 
the  prosaic  citizen.  His  "  Thomas  of  Reading  "  is  written  in  the  honor 
of  the  clothiers;  his  "  Jack  of  Newberry  "  perpetuates  the  fame  of 
a  wealthy  weaver;  and  "  The  Gentle  Craft,"  a  series  of  tales,  is 
dedicated  to  the  shoemaking  cult.  In  one  of  these,  "  Master  Peachey 
and  his  Men,"  there  is  a  minstrel,  Anthony  Now-Now,  from  whose 
lips  comes  a  lyric  which  shows  how  the  topical  song  of  to-day  has  an 
origin  venerable  by  reason  of  its  antiquity: 

"  When  should  a  man  show  liimself  gentle  and  kind? 
When  should  a  man  comfort  the  sorrowful  mind? 

O  Anthony,  now,  now,  now. 
What  is  the  best  time  to  drink  witli  a  friend  ? 
When  is  it  meetest  my  money  to  spend? 

O  Anthony,  now,  now,  now." 

The  Engli.sh  colleges,  schools,  and  teachers  of  the  period  from 
1S60  to  1600,  like  all  of  the  other  intellectual  forces  of  the  nation, 


A  CENTURY  OF  EXPANSION  101 

felt  the  innuence  of  the  Renascence,  the  Reformation,  and  the  new 
sense  of  national  greatness.  There  is  something  agreeably  modern 
in  the  discussions  that  were  then  current  about  the  Oxford  professors 
who  never  read,  the  insufficient  preparation  of  undergraduates,  the 
schemes  of  student  government  for  schools,  the  efforts  to  reform 
English  spelling  on  a  phonetic  basis,  the  decay  of  home  discipline, 
and  the  microscopic  size  of  teachers'  salaries,  which  ranged  from 
$500.00  to  $30.00  a  year.  In  spite  of  all  this,  the  evidence  is  ample 
that  schools  were  both  numerous  and  excellent;  and  at  least  two 
Elizabethan  masters,  Roger  Ascham  and  Richard  Mulcaster,  wrote 
books  which  may  still  be  read  with  profit  by  their  professional 
successors.  In  his  "  Toxophilus,"  Ascham  urges  the  importance  of 
physical  training,  especially  of  shooting  with  the  long  bow,  as  a 
measure  of  national  safety.  In  his  "  Scholem^ter,"  he  denounces 
harsh  punishments,  pleads  for  the  boy  with  a  slow  but  solid  mind, 
condemns  travel  as  a  means  of  education  as  dangerous  to  morals,  and 
recommends  the  imitation  of  classical  models  as  the  only  way  to 
attain  a  good  English  style.  His  own  style  is  excellent.  That  of 
Mulcaster,  on  the  other  hand,  is  abominable.  His  ideas,  however,  are 
distinguished  by  great  good  sense.  He  believes,  for  instance,  that  all 
men  and  women  should  be  educated,  but  that  their  training  should  fit 
them  for  their  stations  in  life.  He  was  probably  the  first  Englishman 
to  urge  the  establishment  of  training  schools  for  teachers  and  to  per- 
ceive the  importance  of  giving  sound  instruction  in  the  English 
language.  As  the  probable  prototype  of  Holofernes  in  "Love's 
Labour's  Lost  "  and  as  the  tutor  of  Edmund  Spenser,  Mulcaster 
has  additional  claims  upon  the  interest  of  the  student  of  English 
literature. 

We  have  postponed  to  the  last  the  three  topics  that  are  at 
once  most  important  and  most  interesting  to  the  student  of  the  liter- 
ature of  Elizabethan  England.  These  are  the  poetry  of  Edmund 
Spenser,  William  Shakespeare  and  the  rise  of  the  English  drama,  and 
Francis  Bacon's  prose.  To  each  of  these  a  separate  chapter  must 
be  devoted. 


102 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


Reign 
Henry  VII. 
1485-1509 


Events 
1502  Margaret  Tudor 


Contemporary  Literature 

1499  Erasmus  visits 
England. 


Modern  Literature 


marries  Jaines  IV 
of   Scotland. 
Henry  VllI  .1513  Lutlier  de- 

1509-1547        nounces  indulgences 
1520  Luther  burns 

Pope's  bull. 
1531   Henry  head  of 

English  church. 
1539  Abbeys  sup- 
pressed. 

Edward  VI 1548  Book  of  Common 

1 547-1 553  Prayer. 

Mary 1555  Protestants  perse- 

I 553-1 559       cuted. 


1509  Erasmus— "Praise  Shakespeare's 
of  Folly."  "  Henry  VHI." 

15 12  Colet  founds  St. 
Paul's  School. 

1516    More's  "  Utopia." 

1525  Tyndale's  Bible. 

1535  Death  of  More. 


Elizabeth   .  . 
I 559-1 603 


1556   Archbishop  Cran- 

mer  burned. 
.  1568  Mary  of  Scotland 

flees  to  England. 
1572  Low  Countries 

rise  against  Spain. 
1577  Drake  sails  for 

Pacific. 
1584  Virginia 

colonized. 

1587  Mary  executed. 

1588  Spanish  Armada 
defeated. 

1603  Ireland  con- 
quered. 


1576  First  English 
Theatre. 

1578  "  Euphues." 

1579  '  Shepherd's 
Calendar." 

1586  Shakespeare  in 
London. 

1587  Marlowe's  "  Tam- 
burlaine." 

1588  Martin  Marprelate. 
1590    "  Faery  Queene." 

1593  "  Venus   and  Adonis." 

1594  Hooker's  "  Ecclesi- 
astical  Polity." 


1597    Bacon's  "  Essays." 
QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  event  did  most  to  inaugurate  the  movement  known  as  the  Renas- 

cence ? 

2.  What  new  forms  were  then  brought  into  English  literature? 

3.  What  new  thoughts  and  conceptions  developed  in  the  English  people? 

4.  What  was  the  cause  of  the  Reformation? 

5.  Along  what  lines  did  it  develop  in  England? 

6.  Who  were  the  great  reformers  in  Scotland  ? 

7.  Christopher    Marlowe   wrote   a   play   called    "  Tamburlaine,"    with   the 

scene  laid  in  Persia.     Why  was  this  typical  of  the  period? 

8.  With  your  knowledge  of  the   facts  concerning  the  translation  of  the 

Bible,   made   in   the   sixteenth   century,   what   effect   would   you   say 
that  this  translation  has  had  upon  the  English  we  use  to-day? 

9.  Name  a  few  of  the  men  besides  Shakespeare  and  Bacon  who  made  the 

end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  golden  age  of  English  literature. 

10.  Write  a  composition  upon  the  England  of  the  fourteenth  century  com- 
pared   with    England    at    the    end    of    the    fifteenth,    laying    special 
emphasis  upon  the  thoughts  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 
Suggested  Readings. —  (a)  More's  "Utopia";    (b)   a  little  of  Foxe's 

"Book  of  Martyrs";  (c)  all  of  Marlowe's  plays. 


CHAPTER  IX 
EDMUND  SPENSER  (1552-1599) 

"  Whose  deep  conceit  is  such 
As,  passing  all  conceit,  needs  no  defence." 

— Shakespeare. 

"  Our  sage  and  serious  poet  Spenser." — Milton. 

Edmund  Spenser  was  born  1552  in  London.  His  family  was 
aristocratic  enough  to  understand  the  value  of  an  education  but  too 
poor  to  give  him  one.  Accordingly  we  find  Edmund  enrolled  in  the 
Merchant  Taylors'  School  under  Dr.  Mulcaster  as  a  sort  of  charity 
pupil,  and  when  he  went  up  to  Cambridge  in  1569  he  went  as  one  of 
those  students  who  earn  their  own  way  and  in  the  language  of  the 
university  are  called  sizars.  At  Cambridge  Spenser  studied  hard  and 
made  friends,  which  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  he  made  the 
most  of  the  opportunities  that  the  university  afforded.  Though  he 
ranged  the  entire  field  of  Greek,  Roman,  and  Italian  literature,  he 
was  influenced  by  Plato  more  than  by  any  other  author.  Of  his  friends, 
Gabriel  Harvey  was  the  most  picturesque  and  influential.  Somewhat 
older  than  Spenser,  he  bullied  the  poet,  loved  him,  introduced  him  to 
great  lords  and  ladies,  was  by  turns  proud  and  jealous  of  his  success, 
and  to  the  end  of  his  days  gave  him  bad  advice,  which  Spenser  for 
the  most  part  had  sense  enough  not  to  follow. 

English  versification  in  those  days  was  in  an  unsettled  state. 
Changes  in  pronunciation,  especially  the  silencing  of  final  "  e,"  had 
caused  the  secret  of  Chaucer's  melody  to  be  lost.  Nobody  understood 
how  to  make  a  line  as  melodious  as 

"  Whan  that  Aprille  with  his  shoures  soote  " 
until  Shakespeare  translated  it  thus  into  modern  English: 
"  When  proud  pied  April,  dressed  in  all  his  trim." 
Spenser  and  Harvey  doubtless  had  many  a  discussion  about   the 
problem  while  they  were  at  Cambridge.     Harvey,  in  common  with 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,  in  his  enthusiasm  for  the  classics,  thought  that  its 
solution  was  to  be  found  in  adopting  into  English  poetry  the  metrical 

103 


104 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


systems  of  Greece  and  Rome,  which  are  based,  not  on  the  accent  of 
syllables  but  on  the  length  of  time  it  takes  to  pronounce  them.  The 
first  line  of  the  "  ^lineid,"  for  instance,  is  scanned  thus: 

"  Arma  vi  |   rumque  ca  |  no,  Tro  |  jae  qui  ]  primus  ab  |   oris." 
The  only  way  in  which  this  can  be  read  so  as  to  seem  musical  to  an 
uneducated  English  ear  is  by  accenting  the  first  syllable  of  each  foot. 


EDMUND  SPENSER 

1552— 1599 

From  an  old  print  in  the   British   Museum 

Probably  the  Romans  had  the  same  trouble.  This,  however,  throws 
the  accent  off  the  first  syllables  of  "  cano  "  and  "  Trojae,"  where  it 
belongs  in  prose.  At  best  it  was  a  clumsy  scheme,  vastly  inferior  to 
that  of  making  the  poetic  ictus  and  the  prose  accent  identical,  which 
in  the  Middle  Ages  gradually,  even  in  Latin,  took  its  place.  Harvey, 
however,  so  far  prevailed  on  Spenser  that  the  latter  tried  to  write 
English  verse  in  quantity,  with  very  sorrowful  results,  and  might 
have  continued  to  do  so  had  not  the  latter's  departure  from  the 
university  in  LS76,  when  he  took  his  master's  degree,  separated 
the  friends. 


EDMUND  SPENSER  105 

During  the  next  three  years  Spenser  Hved  in  Lancashire,  where 
he  fell  in  love  with  a  lady  named  Rosalind,  who  failed  to  reciprocate 
h's  affection,  and  where  he  wrote,  partly  in  her  honor,  a  series  of 
twelve  pastoral  poems,  or  bucolics,  called  the  "  Shepherd's  Calendar," 
the  publication  of  which  in  1579  delighted  everybody  except  evidently 
the  aforesaid  Rosalind.  Its  metre  was  such  a  triumphant  answer  to 
Harvey's  theory  of  versification  that  it  may  be  said  once  and  for  all 
to  have  fixed  the  science  of  English  verse.  In  plan  and  in  matter, 
it  was  classical  enough  to  satisfy  even  Harvey,  being  an  imi- 
tation of  the  French  and  Italian  imitations  of  Virgil,  who  was 
himself  an  imitator  of  the  Greek  Theocritus,  who  lived  in  Sicily 
about  250  B.C.  The  pastorals  of  Theocritus  are  delightful  pictures  of 
rural  life,  as  true  and  fresh  to-day  as  they  were  2200  years  ago.  His 
Italian  and  French  imitators,  however,  were  not  content  to  write 
simply,  but  represented  all  sorts  of  great  people  allegorically  as 
shepherds,  and  this  style  Spenser  adopted.  Thus,  in  the  "  Shepherd's 
Calendar,"  he  himself  is  Colin  Clout;  Harvey  is  Hobbinol;  Bishop 
Grindal  is  Algrind;  Chaucer  is  the  god  of  Shepherds;  Queen  Elizabeth 
is  the  ''  Queen  of  Shepherds  all  ";  and  Henry  VIII  is  the  "  great  God 
Pan."  Spenser's  bucolics  are  twelve  in  number,  one  for  each 
month.  Those  for  January,  March,  June,  and  December  deal  with 
Colin's  unrequited  love  for  Rosalind;  in  those  for  February,  May, 
July,  and  September,  morality  and  religion  are  discussed;  that  for 
April  is  complimentary  to  Queen  Elizabeth;  November  is  an  elegy  in 
honor  of  a  great  lady  whom  the  poet  calls  Dido;  in  August  is  described 
a  singing  match  between  two  shepherds;  and  October  is  devoted  to  a 
lament  for  the  decay  of  poetry.  Though  the  language  is  rustic,  the 
poems  are  highly  artificial.  Their  melody  and  power,  however,  were 
such  that,  when  they  were  published,  Spenser  was  at  once  hailed  as 
the  "  new  poet  "  in  order  to  distinguish  him  from  Chaucer,  the  "  old 
poet,"  the  only  name  in  English  literature  great  enough,  his  admirers 
thought,  to  be  set  side  by  side  with  his. 

Spenser  left  his  Lancashire  retirement  in  1579,  came  up  to  London, 
and,  by  virtue  of  the  friendship  of  Harvey  and  the  merit  of  the 
"  Shepherd's  Calendar,"  speedily  found  himself  on  terms  of  warm 
friendship  with  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Lord  Grey  of 
Wilton,  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  herself.    He  was 


106  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

filled  with  hopes  of  high  preferment.  The  Queen  was  so  pleased  with 
his  poems  that  she  ordered  her  treasurer,  Lord  Burleigh,  to  pay  him 
100  pounds.  Burleigh,  however,  being  actuated  by  motives  of  econ- 
omy, enmity  to  Leicester,  or  indifference  to  poetry,  is  said  to  have 
exclaimed,  when  he  received  the  order,  that  it  was  too  much.  "  Then 
give  him,"  said  the  Queen,  "  what  is  reason."  To  this  he  agreed, 
but,  evidently  thinking  that  reason  meant  nothing,  neglected  to  pay 
the  poet,  who  thereupon  put  into  the  Queen's  hands  the  following 
verse : 

"  I  was  promised  on  a  time 
To  have  reason  for  my  rime  ;■' 
From  that  time  unto  this  season 
I  received  nor  -ime  nor  reason." 

Burleigh  in  consequence  was  sharply  reprimanded  and  ordered  to 
pay  Spenser  the  100  pounds  he  had  been  promised  at  first. 

In  another  quarter,  however,  he  received  more  substantial  aid. 
Ireland  was  at  that  moment  in  one  of  those  periodical  states  of 
eruption  which  have  characterized  its  history  during  the  last  eight 
centuries.  Lord  Grey  was  designated  by  the  Queen  to  restore  order, 
and  Spenser  went  with  him  as  his  private  secretary.  In  this  capacity 
he  witnessed  and  probably  did  not  disapprove  military  measures  of 
such  severity  as  the  massacre  of  a  garrison  after  it  had  surrendered, 
or  civil  measures  of  such  simplicity  as  the  execution  of  the  inmates 
of  a  jail  in  order  to  make  room  for  fresh  prisoners.  He  was  himself 
exposed  on  more  than  one  occasion  to  deadly  peril.  He  came  to  regard 
the  Irish  with  aversion  and  contempt.  He  lived,  as  do  the  English 
of  Mr.  Rudyard  Kipling's  Indian  stories,  in  a  little  world  exiled  from 
all  it  holds  dear,  solacing  his  abundant  leisure  with  the  study  of 
philosophy  and  the  composition  of  poetry.  When  at  length  the  land 
was  reduced  to  submission,  he  was  rewarded  with  a  share  of  the  spoils 
in  the  shape  of  a  grant  of  3000  acres  of  land  taken  by  force  from  its 
rightful  owners.  Here,  about  30  miles  northwest  from  Cork,  on  the 
north  side  of  a  fine  lake,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  plain  terminated  on 
the  east  by  the  County  of  Waterford  Mountains,  on  the  south  by  Nagle 
Mountains,  on  the  west  by  the  Mountains  of  Kerry,  and  on  the  north 
by  Bally-howra  Hills,  or,  as  Spenser  calls  them,  the  Mountains  of 
Mole,  surrounded  by  lovely  scenery  and  by  the  hatred  of  his  Irish 


EDMUND  SPENSER  107 

tenants,  the  poet  took  up  his  residence  in  Kilcolman  Castle,  from  the 
towers  of  which  he  commanded  a  view  of  above  half  the  width  of 
Ireland.  Here,  in  the  abundant  leisure  which  his  exile  afforded,  he 
composed  the  greatest  of  his  poems  and  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  time, 
the  "  Faerie  Queene." 

He  himself  describes  it  as  an  allegory,  disposed  into  "  twelve  books, 
fashioning  XH  morall  vertues."  Each  book  was  to  contain  twelve 
cantos  and  each  canto  was  to  consist  of  about  fifty  stanzas  of  nine 
lines  each.  The  whole,  had  Spenser  completed  it,  would  therefore 
have  reached  the  enormous  total  of  64,800  lines,  about  six  times  the 
length  of  "  Paradise  Lost."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  only  a  trifle  over  half 
of  the  work,  as  Spenser  planned  it,  has  come  down  to  us.  The  rest 
probably  was  never  written;  if  it  was,  it  perished  in  the  ruin  that, 
in  1598,  overtook  Spenser's  fortunes. 

The  object  of  the  work,  according  to  the  poet's  preface,  was  to 
fashion  a  gentleman  or  a  noble  person  in  virtuous  and  gentle  disci- 
pline. In  order  to  attain  this  end  Spenser  planned  to  tell  how  Arthur, 
before  he  became  king,  beheld  in  a  vision  the  Faery  Queen,  who 
typifies  glory,  and  how  he  went  forth  to  find  her.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  does  nothing  of  the  sort.  Instead  he  explains  in  his  preface  that 
the  beginning  of  his  story  is  to  be  told  in  Book  XII,  where  is  to  be 
described  the  annual  feast  of  the  Faery  Queen,  which  lasted  twelve 
days,  "  upon  which  XII  severall  days  the  occasion  of  the  XII  severall 
adventures  happened,  being  undertaken  by  XII  severall  knights,  are 
in  these  XII  books  severally  handled  and  discoursed."  Thus  in  Book 
I  the  Redcross  Knight,  or  Holiness,  is  assigned  by  the  Faery  Queen 
to  destroy  a  dragon  which  for  many  years  has  blockaded  the  parents 
of  Una.  The  hero  slays  the  dragon;  is  induced  by  Hypocrisy  to 
abandon  Una,  who  is  thereupon  guarded  by  a  lion;  is  led  astray  by 
the  enchantress  Duessa;  is  captured  by  a  Gyaunt  proud;  is  rescued  by 
Prince  Arthur;  in  a  battle  of  three  days,  overcomes  the  Dragon 
Despeyre;  and  in  the  end  is  triumphantly  betrothed  to  Una.  Though 
it  is  impossible  to  unravel  all  the  details  of  the  allegory,  they  were 
probably  clear  enough  to  Spenser's  contemporaries.  The  Faery  Queen 
seems  to  be  Queen  Elizabeth;  Una,  the  English  church;  her  guardian, 
the  British  Lion;  Duessa,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots;  and  the  Dragon 


108  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Despeyre  the  Spanish  Armada.  In  Book  II,  which  deals  with  the 
second  day,  Sir  Guyon,  or  Temperance,  similarly  is  sent  out  on  a 
quest;  and  in  Book  III  Sir  Scudamore,  or  Chastity,  goes  forth  to  lib- 
erate Amoretta,  a  lady  who  was  kept  in  bondage  by  a  vile  enchanter 
named  Busirane,  but  he  is  unable  to  succeed  until  aided  by  Brito- 
martis,  a  lady  knight,  who  is  Queen  Elizabeth  herself. 

In  working  out  this  plan  Spenser  himself  informs  us  that  he 
imitated  Homer,  Virgil,  Ariosto,  and  Tasso.  One  feature  of  the 
poem,  however,  is  original — the  form  of  the  verse,  which  he  invented 
and  which  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  Spenserian  Stanza.  Its 
mechanical  structure,  its  varied  melody,  its  dignified  beauty,  and  its 
vividness  are  well  illustrated  in  the  following  specimens: 

I.    I.    I. 

"  A  gentle  Knight  was  pricking  on  the  plaine,  i 

Yclad  in  mightie  arms  and  silver  shielde,  2 

Wherein  old  dints  of  deepe  woundes  did  remaine,  I 

The  cruel!  marks  of  many  a  bloody  fielde ;  2 

Yet  armes  till  that  time  did  he  never  wield.  2 

His  angry  steede  did  chide  his  foming  bitt,  3 

As  much  disdayning  to  the  curbe  to  yield ;  2 

Full  jolly  knight  he  seemed,  and  fair  did  sitt,  3 

As  one  for  knightly  giusts  and  fierce  encounters  fitt."  3 

I.     12.     42. 

"Now,  strike  your  sailes,  yee  jolly  Mariners,  I 

For  we  be  come  unto  a  quiet  rode,  2 

Where  we  must  land  some  of  our  passengers,  I 

And  light  this  weary  vessell  of  her  lode.  2 

Here  she  a  while  may  make  her  safe  abode  2 

Till  she  repaired  have  her  tackles  spent  3 

And  wants  supplide ;  And  then  again  abroad  2 

On  the  long  voiage,  whereto  she  is  bent.  3 

Well  may  she  speede  and  fairely  finish  her  intent !  "  3 

n.  12.  70. 

"  Eftsoones  they  heard  a  most  melodious  sound  T 

Of  all  that  mote  delight  a  daintie  eare,  2 

Such  as  attonce  might  not  on  living  ground,  I 

Save  in  this  Paradise,  be  heard  elsewhere ;  2 

Right  hard  it  was  for  wiglit  which  did  it  heare  2 

To  read  what  manner  musicke  that  mote  bee ;  3 

For  all  that  pleasing  is  to  living  eare  2 

Was  there  consorted  in  one  harmonee ;  3 

Birds,  voices,  instruments,  windes,  waters,  all  agree."  3 

The  chief  fault  of  the  poem  is  that  it  is  tiresome.  We  become 
weary  of  cardinal  virtues  and  deadly  sins,  as  Macaulay  says,  and 
long  for  the  society  of  plain  men  and  women.     In  other  words,  the 


EDMUND  SPENSER  109 

abstract  and  the  concrete,  the  real  and  the  ideal,  were  not  in  the 
"  Faery  Queene  "  as  completely  fused  as  they  had  been  by  Chaucer, 
as  they  were  to  be  by  Shakespeare,  as  they  have  been  by  all  great 
artists  from  Homer  down  to  Kipling.  The  allegory,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  both  in  sculpture  and  in  poetry,  is  as  crude  and  primitive  a  device 
as  is  quantitative  versification.  The  "  Faery  Queene  "  has  one  other 
fundamental  defect.  It  lacks  unity  of  design.  The  "  Iliad  "  has  only 
one  theme,  Achilles's  wrath.  The  "  Odyssey  "  has  only  one  theme,  the 
return  home  of  Ulysses.  "  Hamlet  "  has  only  one  theme,  the  fate  of 
the  man  who  hesitates.  But  the  "Faery  Queene"  has  countless  themes. 
Its  only  unity,  if  unity  it  can  be  called,  springs  from  the  fact  that  it 
deals  with  the  eternal  struggle  of  right  with  wrong.  It  is  overladen 
with  glittering  details.  It  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  "  Iliad  " 
that  a  delicatessen  shop  bears  to  a  dinner.  It  contains  too  much  to  be 
consumed  at  one  sitting.  And  yet,  open  it  where  you  will,  you  are 
sure  to  find  food  for  the  spirit.  It  is  an  inexhaustible  mine  for  any- 
body who  has  the  patience  to  dig.  It  is  not  without  reason,  therefore, 
that  Spenser  has  been  called  the  poets'  poet.  Into  his  treasure-house 
he  has  gathered  the  best  things  from  most  of  the  poets  who  preceded 
him.  From  it  ever  since  poets  great  and  small  have  stolen — secure  for 
the  most  part  from  detection  for  two  reasons:  first,  because  nobody 
reads  Spenser  through;  second,  because  nobody  reads  them  at  all. 

While  Spenser  was  engaged  on  his  great  poem,  great  events  were 
happening.  In  1585  William  Shakespeare  came  up  to  London;  in  1586 
Spenser's  friend  Sir  Philip  Sidney  was  killed  in  a  skirmish  at  Zutphen; 
in  1587  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  executed;  and  in  1588  the  Spanish 
Armada  was  destroyed.  The  following  year  there  came  to  Kilcolman 
a  distinguished  guest  who  had  borne  a  large  share  in  that  great  event, 
and  who  was  himself,  as  has  already  been  said,  no  mean  poet.  This 
was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  In  "  Colin  Clout's  Come  Home  Again," 
Spenser  describes  his  visit: 

"  He,   sitting  me  beside  in  tliat  same  shade, 

Provoked  me  to  play  some  pleasant  fit; 
And,  wlien  he  heard  the  music  which  I  made, 

He  found  himself  full  greatly  pleased  at  it; 
Yet,  aemuling  my  pipe,  he  took  in  hond 

I\Iy  pipe,  before  that  aemuled  of  many. 
And  plaid  thereon  (for  well  that  skill  he  cond), 


110  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Himselfe  as  skilful  in  that  art  as  any, 
He  pip'd,  I  sung ;  and,  when  he  sung,  1  piped ; 

By  change  of  turns,  each  making  other  mery; 
Neither  envying  other,  nor  envied. 

So  piped  we,  until  we  both  were  weary." 

In  other  words,  Spenser  showed  Raleigh  the  three  books  of  the 
"  Faery  Queene  "  which  he  had  completed;  and  Raleigh,  like  the  true 
poet  that  he  was,  at  once  perceiving  their  value,  insisted  that  Spenser 
should  accompany  him  to  London  for  the  double  purpose  of  astonish- 
ing the  court  and  publishing  the  treasure,  of  course  with  the  idea  of 
securing  for  Spenser  some  substantial  recognition  that  might  enable 
him  to  live  in  England. 

The  "  Faery  Queene"  was  licensed  to  be  printed  December  I, 
1589.  In  the  dedication  Spenser  consecrates  these  his  labors  to 
Elizabeth  "  to  live  with  the  eternity  of  her  fame."  Bold  as  the 
prophecy  was,  it  has  proved  true.  The  merit  of  the  work  was  at 
once  recognized.  On  its  first  page  it  bore  a  sonnet  by  Raleigh  which 
expresses  with  surprising  accuracy  the  esteem  in  which  it  has  ever 
since  been  held: 

"  Me  thought  I  saw  the  grave  where  Laura  lay, 
Within  that  temple  where  the  vestall  flame 
Was  wont  to  burne  ;  and  passing  by  that  way 

To  see  that  buried  dust  of  living  fame. 
Whose  tumbe  fair  love  and  fairer  vertue  kept, 

All  suddenly  I  saw  the  Faery  Queene; 
At  whose  approach  the  soul  of  Petrarke  wept, 

And  from  thenceforth  those  graces  were  not  seene, 
For  they  this  Queene  attended,  in  whose  steed 

Oblivion  laid  him  down  on  Laura's  herse. 
Hereat  the  hardest  stones  were  seene  to  bleed, 

And  grones  of  buried  ghostes  the  hevens  did  perse, 
Where  Homer's  spright  did  tremble  all  for  griefe, 
And  curst  the  accesse  of  that  celestiall  thiefe." 

The  Queen  was  pleased  to  the  extent  of  granting  Spenser  a 
pension  of  fifty  pounds;  but  Burleigh  was  still  powerful,  and,  in 
spite  of  his  fame,  the  poet  could  get  no  other  advancement.  In  his 
despair  he  wrote  "  Mother  Hubberds  Tale,"  in  which  he  took  an 
ample  revenge  on  Burleigh  and  incidentally  painted  his  own  grief 
in  lines  that  still  burn  and  tremble  with  indignation: 

"  Full  little  knowest  thou,  that  hast  not  tride, 
What  hell  it  is  in  suing  long  to  bide, 
To  loose  good  dayes,  that  might  be  better  spent, 


EDMUND  SPENSER  111 

To  waste  long  nights  in  pensive  discontent; 
To  speed  to-day,  to  be  put  back  to-morrow  ; 
To  feed  on  hope,  to  pine  with  feare  and  sorrow; 
To  have  thy  Princes  grace,  yet  want  her  Peeres  ; 
To  have  thy  asking,  yet  wait  many  yeres." 

In  1591  he  was  back  in  Ireland,  which,  after  the  pitfalls  of  the 
court,  probably  did  not  seem  so  inhospitable  after  all,  if  we  may 
judge  from  "  Colin  Clout's  Come  Home  Again,"  an  autobiographical 
poem  which  he  wrote  at  this  time  and  in  which  he  described  the  visit 
to  England  from  which  he  had  just  returned.  He  was  not  without 
other  consolations.  There  now  swims  into  our  ken  a  certain  Elizabeth, 
in  whose  honor  he  wrote  88  sonnets  and  an  "  Epithalamium,"  or 
marriage  song,  from  which  it  appears  that  he  wooed  her,  that  she 
long  denied  his  suit,  and  that  at  length  they  were  wed.  This  happy 
event  occurred  in  1594. 

The  next  year  he  crossed  again  to  England,  carrying  with  him 
Books  IV,  V,  and  VI  of  his  great  poem,  and  also  a  prose  work,  a 
"  View  of  the  Present  State  of  Ireland."  When  he  arrived  in  London 
he  found  Shakespeare  splendidly  fulfilling  the  promise  of  his  early 
years,  Ben  Jonson  just  becoming  known  to  fame,  and  Francis  Bacon 
already  attracting  to  himself  the  eyes  of  men.  At  the  Mermaid 
Tavern,  where  Raleigh  had  instituted  a  club,  he  may  have  met  all 
three.  He  became  intimate  with  the  Earl  of  Essex,  who  was  then 
the  reigning  favorite.  The  three  new  books  of  the  "  Faery  Queene  " 
were  immediately  published,  with  a  reimpression  of  the  first  three, 
and  raised  him  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame.  But  with  fame  he  had 
to  be  content.  His  connection  with  Essex  barred  the  door  to  profitable 
employment  and  certain  references  in  the  poem  to  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  caused  her  son,  the  King  of  Scotland  and  the  heir  to  the 
English  throne,  angrily  to  demand  the  poet's  punishment. 

In  the  second  instalment  of  the  "  Faery  Queene  "  the  slight 
thread  of  unity  which  holds  the  first  together  almost  entirely  dis- 
appears. Somebody  has  said  that  you  cannot  lose  your  way  in  it, 
for  there  is  no  way  to  lose.  It  is  like  a  primeval  forest,  rich  and  charm- 
ing with  all  the  riotous  prodigality  of  nature.  The  subject  of  Book 
IV  is  Friendship,  of  Book  V  Justice,  and  of  Book  VI  Courteisie.  The 
inspiration  of  Book  IV  is  drawn  somewhat  from 


112  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Dan'  Chaucer,   well   of   English   undefiled, 
On  Fame's  eternal  beadroll  worthy  to  be  filed  " ; 

in  Book  V  Spenser  pays  tribute  under  the  name  of  Artegall  to  his 
first  employer,  Lord  Grey,  who  had  died  in  1593,  broken-hearted  by 
his  failure  to  subdue  Ireland;  and  the  hero  of  Book  VI  is  the  match- 
less Sidney,  first  of  all  English  gentlemen. 

Spenser  remained  in  England  until  the  middle  of  1597.  During 
his  stay  he  was  reprimanded— mildly  we  may  guess — by  certain  noble 
ladies  for  his  "  Hymns  to  Love  and  Beautie,"  and  in  order  to  make 
his  peace  with  them  he  composed  his  "  Hymns  to  Heavenly  Love  and 
Heavenly  Beautie."  Toward  the  close  of  1596  he  also  wrote  his 
"  Prothalamium,"  a  spousal  verse  made  in  honor  of  the  double  mar- 
riage of  the  two  honorable  and  virtuous  ladies,  the  lady  Elizabeth  and 
the  lady  Katherine  Somerset.  This  is  a  graceful  and  melodious  poem, 
and  it  was  his  last. 

Spenser's  anxiety  to  remain  in  England  probably  sprang  partly 
from  a  keen  sense  of  the  insecurity  of  his  situation  at  Kilcolman. 
In  his  work  on  the  state  of  Ireland  he  gives  a  picture  of  a  noble 
realm,  sunk  in  woe,  conquered  but  not  subdued,  with  a  native  popula- 
tion seething  with  wrath,  and  foreign  masters  in  whom  cupidity  and 
the  desire  to  attain  a  just  and  lasting  peace  strove  for  the  mastery, 
a  contest  in  which  cupidity  mostly  won.  He  himself  saw  no  solution 
of  the  problem  except  in  relentless  severity.  Three  hundred  years 
of  English  statesmanship  have  not  apparently  succeeded  in  getting 
much  closer  to  a  satisfactory  answer.  Modern  statesmen  indeed 
have  tried  conciliation.  But  the  events  of  the  early  months  of  1914 
seem  to  indicate  that  there  are  only  three  ways  (all  equally  imprac- 
ticable) of  preserving  peace  in  Ireland:  (1)  Kill  or  deport  all  the 
Irish;  (2)  kill  or  deport  all  the  English;  (3)  start  a  foreign  war  which 
will  enable  both  parties  to  gratify  their  love  of  fighting  at  the 
expense  of  a  foreign  foe.  Spenser  indeed  says,  "  Men  of  great 
wisdom  have  often  wished  that  all  that  land  were  a  sea-pool." 

When  he  returned  in  1597  it  was,  however,  apparently  quiet. 
In  1598  he  reached  the  zenith  of  his  prosperity.  In  August  of  that 
year  died  the  great  obstructor  of  his  advancement,  Lord  Burleigh. 
In  September  arrived  a  letter  from  the  court  recommending  his 


EDMUND  SPENSER  113 

appointment  as  Sheriff  of  Cork.  His  domestic  life  was  serene.  Two 
sons  had  been  born  to  crown  his  wedded  bliss.  He  was  the  recog- 
nized prince  of  hving  poets.  The  early  autumn  of  1598  found  him 
in  the  enjoyment  of  all  these  accumulated  happinesses. 

Then  in  October  the  Irish  rose.  His  occupation  of  the  old  castle 
had  been  regarded  with  fierce  jealousy.  While  he  had  mused  and 
sung  in  the  valley,  the  natives  had  cursed  him  from  the  adjacent 
hills.  The  day  of  their  vengeance  had  now  arrived.  They  rushed 
down  upon  Kilcolman;  his  home  was  plundered  and  burned;  one  Httle 
child,  new  born,  perished  in  the  flames;  the  rest  of  the  family 
barely  made  their  escape.  In  their  flight  the  remaining  six  books 
of  the  "  Faery  Queene  "  are  said  to  have  been  lost.  Almost  penniless 
and  prostrated  in  body  and  spirit  by  the  horrors  and  hardships  of 
this  experience,  Spenser  made  his  way  to  London,  where,  on  January 
16,  1599,  he  died  in  a  tavern  in  King  Street,  Westminster. 

He  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey  near  Chaucer.  The  Queen 
ordered  a  monument  to  be  erected  over  him,  but  the  money  was  stolen 
by  one  of  her  agents.  In  1620  Anne,  Countess  of  Dorset,  erected  the 
present  monument;  but  the  stonecutter,  like  some  of  his  modern  suc- 
cessors, was  weak  in  orthography  and  spelled  the  poet's  name 
"  Spencer  "  instead  of  "  Spenser." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  In  what  way  did  Spenser's  studies  at  Cambridge  reflect  the  spirit  of  the 

time  in  which  he  Hved? 

2.  Did  he  hold  to  the  Latin  and  Greek  metrical  system  or  did  he  develop 

another? 

3.  What  is  a  bucolic?     Who  were  Spenser's  classic  forerunners?     James 

Whitcomb  Riley  and  Spenser  have  both  written  of  the  country. 
Compare  their  treatment  of  Nature. 

4.  What  is  an  allegory?     Name  some  allegories  other  than  the  "Faery 

Queene." 

5.  What  are  the  special  attributes  of  the  "  Faery  Queene"? 

6.  Spenser  has  been  called  tlie  poets'  poet.    Do  you  think  that  the  greatest 

poet  is  he  who  appeals  to  the  trained  minds  or  he  who  appeals  to  the 
masses?  Back  your  opinion  with  examples  of  men  who  have  done 
either  or  both. 

7.  In  a  two-minute  talk  tell  the  story  of  Spenser's  life. 

8.  Who  were  the  contemporaries   who  apparently  exercised  the  greatest 

effect  for  good  or  evil  upon  Spenser's  career? 
8 


114 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


9.  From  what  you  have  read  of  the  "Faery  Queene "  do  you  consider  it 
worth  reading?  Will  it  make  you  a  better  money-maker?  Will  it 
make  you  more  moral  ?  Will  it  make  you  happier  ?  In  what  way  will 
it  enrich  your  life? 
10.  If  you  had  knowledge  of  Chaucer  only  through  the  "  Canterbury  Tales  " 
and  of  Spenser  only  through  the  "  Faery  Queene,"  how  would  you 
compare  the  outlook  upon  life  of  the  respective  authors?  Did  they 
see  life  thr9ugh  glasses  of  the  same  color? 

Suggested  Readings. — Read  Book  I,  Canto  I,  of  the  "Faery  Queene" ; 
it  will  probably  appeal  deeply  and  tempt  you  to  read  more.  For  further 
knowledge  of  the  author  read  "  Spenser,"  by  Dean  R.  W.  Church,  in  the 
"  English  Men  of  Letters  Series." 


CHAPTER  X 

WILLIAM   SHAKESPEARE   (1564-1616) 

"The  man  whom  Nature  self  had  made 
To  mock  herself  and  truth  to  imitate." — Spenser. 

"  I   confess   they   writings  to  be    such 
As  neither  man  nor  Muse  can  praise  too  much. 

Soul  of  the  age ! 
The  applause,  delight,  the  wonder  of  our  stage! 
My  Shakespeare,  rise  !     I  will  not  lodge  thee  by 
Chaucer,  or  Spenser,  or  bid  Beaumont  lie 
A  little  further  off,  to  make  thee  room. 

How  far  thou  didst  our  Lyly  outshine 
Or   sporting  Kyd  or   Marlowe's   mighty  line. 

Triumph,  my  Britain,  thou  hast  one  to  show, 

To  whom  ail  scenes  of  Europe  homage  owe. 

He  was  not  of  age,  but  for  all  time !  " — Ben  Jonson. 

"  Sweetest  Shakespeare,  fancy's  child." — Milton. 

"  Existence  saw  him  spurn  her  bounded  reign 
And  panting  time  toiled  after  him  in  vain." 

— Samuel  Johnson. 
"The  prince  of  all  poets." — Macaiday. 

Of  William  Shakespeare's  life,  aside  from  a  few  dates,  we  actually 
know  only  two  things:  first,  he  wrote  his  plays  and  poems;  second, 
he  was  liked  and  respected  by  almost  everybody  with  whom  he 
came  into  contact.  It  is  possible  to  construct  from  less  reliable, 
but  still  good,  materials  a  reasonably  complete  story  of  his  career. 

He  was  baptized  at  Stratford-on-Avon,  April  26,  1564,  probably 
three  days  after  his  birth.  His  father,  John  Shakespeare,  was  a  dealer 
in  farm  produce,  held  several  village  offices,  and,  like  the  father  of 
Robert  Burns,  indulged  largely  in  the  pastime  of  suing  his  fellow- 
citizens.  At  one  period  of  his  career,  this  unamiable  weakness  would 
have  reduced  him  to  poverty  had  it  not  been  for  William's  aid.  John 
Shakespeare,  in  short,  appears  to  have  been  not  overwise;  perhaps 
some  of  his  peculiarities  have  been  preserved  for  us  in  the  character 
of  Polonius  in  "  Hamlet,"  just  as  Dickens's  father  perhaps  lives  in  that 
of  Mr.  Micawber  in  "  David  Copperfield."     Shakespeare's  mother, 

115 


116  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Mary  Arden,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  have  been  of  gentle  blood; 
her  pedigree  has  been  traced  back  to  Alfred  the  Great;  and  her  son's 
innate  respect  for  women  and  sure  touch  in  depicting  high-born  ladies 
indicate  that  he  was  to  the  manner  born. 

William's  education  was  gained  largely  in  the  open  air.  In  "A 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  "As  You  Like  It/'  the  "  Sonnets,"  and 
"  Venus  and  i^donis  "  there  are  descriptions  of  the  fields  about 
Stratford  and  of  scenes  that  he  must  have  witnessed  as  a  boy  in  the 
forest  of  Arden,  which  at  that  time  stretched  away  to  the  west  of  the 
Avon.  He  also  attended  the  Stratford  grammar  school,  where,  like 
Falstaff,  he  probably  "  played  truant,"  "  knew  what  'twas  to  be 
beaten,"  and,  to  quote  Ben  Jonson,  learned  "  small  Latin  and  less 
Greek."  At  all  events  he  learned  little  enough  of  geography  to  believe 
that  there  are  seaports  in  Bohemia,  little  enough  of  history  to  think 
that  there  were  cannon  in  Hamlet's  time,  and  little  enough  of  philoso- 
phy to  make  Hector  quote  Aristotle  at  the  siege  of  Troy.  In  the 
"  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  "  Sir  Hugh  Evans  examines  little  William 
in  Lilly's  Latin  Grammar  in  a  fashion  to  which  the  real  William 
doubtless  had  been  subjected. 

Mrs.  Page.  Sir  Hugh,  my  husband  says  my  son  profits  nothing  in  the. 
world  at  his  book.     I  pray  you,  ask  him  some  questions  in  his  accidence. 

Evans.     William,  how  many  numbers  is  in  nouns? 

William.     Two. 

E.     What  is  fair,  William? 

IV.    Piilcher. 

E.     What  is  lapis,  William? 

W.     A  stone. 

E.     And  what  is  a  stone,  William  ? 

W.  A  pebble. 

E.     No,  it  is  lapis.     I  pray  you  remember  in  your  prain. 

W.    Lapis. 

E.  That  is  a  good  William.  Show  me  now,  William,  some  declensions 
of  your  pronouns. 

W.  Forsooth,  T  have  forgot. 

E.  It  is  qui,  quae,  quod;  if  you  forget  your  qiiies,  your  quaes,  and 
your  quods  you  must  be  preeches.     Go  your  ways  and  play.     Go. 

Mrs.  Page.     He  is  a  better  scholar  than  I  thought  he  was. 

E.     He  is  a  good  sprag  memory. 

Shakespeare  probably  was  a  better  scholar  than  Ben  Jonson 
thought  he  was,  but  also  glad  enough,  like  little  William,  to  go  his 
ways  and  play.     At  all  events,  his  schooling  came  quickly  to  an  end, 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  117 

probably  on  account  of  the  hard  times  due  to  his  father's  money 
troubles.  One  tradition  says  that  William  began  his  breadwinning 
career  as  an  assistant  to  John  Shakespeare  in  his  meat-market,  turning 
even  this  occupation  to  poetic  account  by  addressing  the  animals 
he  was  about  to  kill  in  the  style  of  tragedy.  According  to  another 
story,  he  taught  school  for  a  while.  At  all  events,  he  was  a  close 
observer  of  the  ways  of  schoolmasters,  as  is  evident  to  anyone  who 
has  studied  the  characters  of  Sir  Hugh  Evans,  of  Pinch  in  the 
"  Comedy  of  Errors,"  and  of  Holofernes  in  "  Love's  Labour's  Lost," 
though  far  too  irrepressible  to  remain  long  in  that  occupation. 

Indeed,  in  his  early  days,  he  seems  to  have  had  a  capacity  for 
getting  into  trouble  that  marks  him  as  the  true  son  of  John  Shake- 
speare. The  lirst  authentic  instance  of  this  occurred  November  27, 
1582,  when  a  license  was  granted  for  his  marriage  to  Anne  Hathaway, 
a  young  woman  eight  years  his  senior.  From  this  union,  the  next 
year,  was  born  his  eldest  daughter,  Susanna,  and  in  1585  the  twins, 
Hamnet  and  Judith.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  chronic  poacher, 
"  much  given  to  all  unluckiness  in  stealing  venison  and  rabbits."  The 
.upshot  of  this  habit  was  that  he  was  caught  robbing  a  park  belonging 
to  Sir  Thomas  Lucy,  was  prosecuted,  revenged  himself  by  writing 
some  scurrilous  verses,  and  was  compelled  in  consequence  to  leave 
Stratford.  Sir  Thomas,  it  may  be  added,  lives  for  us  in  "  The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor  "  and  "  Henry  IV,"  Part  2,  as  Justice  Shallow. 

In  this  dilemma,  William  made  his  way,  probably  on  foot,  to 
London,  which  was  then  a  small  town,  enclosed  by  walls.  On  its  south 
side  it  was  bounded  by  the  Thames,  which  was  spanned  by  a  single 
bridge.  Inside  all  was  surge  and  struggle;  without,  in  the  green 
fields,  the  people  disported  themselves  on  holidays;  and  here,  in 
order  to  escape  the  rigor  of  the  puritanical  city  fathers,  two  theatres 
had  recently  been  constructed.  In  comparison  with  modern  play- 
houses, these  were  crude  affairs.  Previous  to  their  construction  plays 
had  usually  been  presented  in  the  open  courtyard  of  an  inn,  where  a 
platform  erected  at  one  end  served  as  stage  and  the  rabble,  hence  called 
groundlings,  stood  in  the  mud,  while  the  gentry  sat  at  the  windows. 
Upon  these  conditions  the  Elizabethan  theatre  builders  had  made  a 
few,  but  only  a  few,  improvements,  chiefly  in  the  stage.    It  was  not, 


118  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

as  now,  sunk  in  the  wall,  with  a  frame,  so  as  to  present  a  picture,  but 
projected  into  the  auditorium.  On  each  side  a  door  was  cut  into  the 
back  wall.  Between  these  doors  was  a  kind  of  roofed  porch,  about  ten 
feet  high,  with  a  raised  dais  below,  a  railing  above,  and  curtains  that 
could  be  drawn  when  necessary.  This  served  a  variety  of  purposes: 
the  king's  throne,  the  stage  in  "  Hamlet,"  Juliet's  tomb.  Its  top  was 
the  balcony  in  "  Romeo  and  Juhet"  and  the  battlements  in  "Henry  V." 
When  the  curtains  were  drawn,  an  actor  entering  at  one  door  could 
not  see  an  actor  entering  at  the  other  until  they  met  at  the  front  of 
the  stage,  which  accounts  for  some  familiar  but  otherwise  inexplicable 
stage  directions.  The  lack  of  a  curtain  made  it  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  slain.  The  absence  of  scenery  forced  the  playwright  to  be 
explicit  in  regard  to  time  and  place,  and  to  rely  for  his  subtlest  and 
grandest  effects  not  on  paint  but  on  poetry.  There  were  no  actresses, 
the  parts  of  women  being  taken  by  boys,  a  fact  which  may  have 
tempted  Shakespeare  to  disguise  Rosalind  and  Portia  as  youths  and 
caused  him  to  make  Cleopatra  express  disgust  at  the  idea  of  having 
some  "  squeaking  Cleopatra  "  of  the  stage  "  boy  "  her  greatness.  In 
costuming  alone  did  the  stage,  as  Shakespeare  found  it,  equal  the 
magnificence  of  later  times. 

The  drama  which  was  presented  in  these  theatres  had  been  no 
sudden  growth.  Its  first  faint  beginnings  have  been  traced  back 
to  the  Saxon  scop,  the  Norman  minstrel,  and  several  popular  festivals 
of  immemorial  antiquity.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  churchmen,  taking 
advantage  of  the  popular  interest  in  these  instituticns,  like  Caedmon 
in  an  earlier  generation,  had  developed  two  types  of  plays  called 
mysteries  and  miracles,  the  former  dealing  with  stories  taken  from 
the  Bible,  the  latter  with  the  lives  of  the  saints  and  the  miracles  asso- 
ciated with  their  names.  As  early  as  1258,  owing  partly  to  opposition 
from  within  the  church  and  partly  to  popular  pressure  from  without, 
the  representation  of  these  plays  had  begun  to  be  transferred  from 
the  clergy  to  amateur  actors  from  the  various  guilds  or  trades. 

These  productions  reached  their  zenith  in  the  great  church  festival 
of  Corpus  Christi,  which  was  instituted  in  1264  for  the  purpose  of 
celebrating,  by  means  of  a  sort  of  triumphal  procession,  the  full  vic- 
tory of  Christianity.    The  method  of  this  ceremonial  was  in  a  series 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  119 

of  plays  to  present  universal  history,  as  conceived  by  the  church, 
from  the  creation  to  the  judgment  day.  In  England  a  particular  scene 
was  assigned  to  each  craft,  an  arrangement  which  resulted  in  bitter 
rivalry  and  lavish  expenditure.  Noah's  ark,  for  instance,  was  en- 
trusted to  the  boat  builders.  The  stage  was  what  to-day  would  be 
called  a  float.  Various  stations  were  established,  and  when  the  first 
craft  reached  the  first  station  it  stopped  while  its  occupants  acted  the 
creation  of  the  world,  then  passed  to  second  station,  where  the  per- 
formance was  repeated  while  the  second  craft  stopped  at  the  first  sta- 
tion to  act  the  sin  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  so  on.  In  this  fashion  between 
30  and  40  scenes  would  be  enacted  in  the  course  of  a  day.  The 
ungrateful  and  by  no  means  easy  task  of  keeping  order  while  a  play 
was  in  progress  was  usually  entrusted  to  a  tyrant  like  Herod  or  Pilate. 

Of  these  processional  plays,  we  possess  three  complete  or  nearly 
complete  cycles — those  of  York,  Wakefield,  and  Chester,  besides  single 
plays  from  the  cycles  of  Coventry,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  and  Nor- 
wich. The  York  cycle  contains  49  plays,  the  Wakefield  32,  the 
Chester  25.  They  are  similar  but  not  identical.  In  the  York  plays, 
for  example,  tyrants  are  depicted  with  powerful  realism;  in  the  Wake- 
field there  is  abundant  rude  humor,  especially  in  the  delineation  of 
Noah's  domestic  troubles,  the  shepherds'  Christmas  Eve  scenes,  and 
the  figure  of  Cain,  who  is  a  coarse,  unmannerly  rustic;  the  Chester 
plays  are  less  dramatic  and  more  didactic,  so  much  so  that  they  re- 
quired an  expositor,  who  accompanied  the  float  on  horseback  for  the 
purpose  of  explaining  the  action.  The  Coventry  plays,  unlike  those  of 
York,  Wakefield,  and  Chester,  were  acted  on  immovable  stages;  in- 
stead of  the  play  coming  to  the  audience,  the  audience  went  to  the  play. 

From  the  mystery  and  miracle  there  developed  toward  the  end 
of  the  fourteenth  century  a  new  form  of  drama  known  as  the  morality 
play.  In  these  are  represented  allegorically  the  battle  which  the  vices 
and  virtues  wage  for  the  possession  of  the  human  soul.  By  no  means 
the  least  edifying  of  these  is  by  a  schoolmaster  named  Redford,  who 
tries  to  show  that  a  regular  course  of  study  is  a  conflict  against  hostile 
powers.  Perhaps  the  best  of  them  is  "  Everyman,"  which  is  impressive 
even  now  both  in  reading  and  on  the  stage.  Its  subject  is  the  hour  of 
death.     Everyman  has  three  friends.  Fellowship,  Kindred,  and  Good 


120  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Deeds;  but  only  Good  Deeds  is  willing  to  go  with  him  after  death 
and  plead  his  cause  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  Good  Deeds  is 
fettered  by  Everyman's  sins.  Good  Deeds,  however,  directs  him  to 
Knowledge  and  Confession,  so  that  he  finally  leaves  the  world  well 
prepared.  The  morality,  in  one  respect,  marks  an  important  advance 
over  the  mystery  in  dramatic  development;  its  story  not  being  pre- 
scribed by  tradition,  it  allows  the  author  more  freedom  to  be  original. 

Farces,  known  as  interludes,  were  also  numerous  and  popular 
during  the  Middle  Ages.  The  term  {inter — "  between  "  plus  Indus — 
"  play  ")  probably  does  not  mean  a  play  in  the  interval  of  something 
else,  but  a  play  carried  on  between  two  or  more  actors.  The  "  Pyramus 
and  Thisbe  "  that  is  acted  by  the  rude  mechanicals  in  "A  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream  "  may  very  well  preserve  for  us  an  exquisitely  realistic 
picture  of  the  representation  of  one  of  these  interludes  as  it  appeared 
to  the  greatest  of  all  reporters  while  he  was  still  a  youth  at  Stratford. 
Two  of  the  interludes  of  John  Heywood  (1498?-1587?),  the 
"  Wether  "  and  the  "  Four  P's,"  are  noteworthy.  In  the  former,  Jupi- 
ter consults  all  manner  of  people  before  deciding  what  kind  of  weather 
to  send.  The  gentleman  wants  dry  and  windless  weather  suitable  for 
hunting,  the  merchant  variable  but  not  violent  winds,  the  ranger  good 
"  rage  of  blustrying  and  blowynge,"  the  water-miller  rain  which  will 
not  fall  while  the  wind  blows,  the  wind-miller  wind  without  "  rayne," 
the  gentlewoman  clouds  lest  the  sun  injure  her  complexion,  the 
"  launder  "  perpetual  sun  to  dry  his  clothes,  and  the  boy  snow  that 
he  may  catch  "  brydes  "  and  see  his  snow  "  ballys  light  on  his 
felowes  heddys."  In  the  "  Four  P's,"  a  palmer,  a  pardoner,  and  a 
'potecary,  with  a  pedler  as  umpire,  engage  in  a  contest  to  decide 
who  can  tell  the  biggest  lie.  The  'potecary  does  well,  but  is  outdone 
by  the  pardoner,  who  tells  how  he  rescued  Margery  Gorson  from  hell 
by  promising  Lucifer  that  he  would  see  to  it  that  there  "  come  no  mo  " 
women  to  hell.  To  this  the  palmer  replies  that  he  cannot  understand 
why  women  can  be  such  shrews  in  hell,  as  he  has  known  500,000  of 
them  yet  never  seen  or  known  one  out  of  patience,  a  declaration  which 
at   once   secures   him    the    victory. 

Among  the  results  of  the  Renascence  was  the  study  of  Roman 
comedies  in  English  schools  and  universities.     Between  1 520  and  1 583 


WILLLVM  SHAKESPEARE  121 

there  are  numerous  records  of  these  plays  having  been  performed  at 
St.  Paul's,  Eton,  Westminster,  Shrewsbury,  Oxford,  and  Cambridge. 
From  these  representations  the  step  to  translation  and  to  the  produc- 
tion of  English  comedy  written  on  classical  lines  was  easy.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1530  we  find  Terence  in  English;  and  about  1552  Nicholas 
Udall,  headmaster  of  Westminster,  wrote  a  play  named  "  Ralph 
Roister  Bolster  "  and  modelled  on  Plautus,  which  is  fairly  entitled  to 
rank  as  the  first  English  comedy.  Ten  years  later,  in  January,  1562, 
there  was  acted  before  Queen  Elizabeth  the  first  English  tragedy,  en- 
titled "  Gorbuduc,"  by  Thomas  Sackville  and  Thomas  Norton.  With 
these  productions  there  came  into  the  English  drama  a  dignity,  a 
feeling  for  form,  and  a  unity  which  had  previously  been  unknown  on 
the  English  stage.  In  them  also  iambic  pentameter  blank  verse  makes 
its  appearance  on  the  English  stage.  Here,  however,  their  merit 
ends.    They  are  in  the  main  crude,  stiff,  and  cold. 

It  was  left  for  a  group  of  young  men  who  are  known  in 
literature  as  the  university  wits  to  take  the  farther  step  of  making 
English  tragedy  and  comedy  live.  These  were  John  Lyly,  Thomas 
Lodge,  George  Peele,  Robert  Greene,  and  Thomas  Nashe.  To  John 
Lyly  (1553-1606)  is  due  the  discovery  that  graceful  prose  is  a  fitter 
instrument  for  comedy  than  verse;  he  raised  the  intellectual  level  of 
the  drama  and  gave  it  delicacy,  grace,  subtlety.  His  lyrics  are  charm- 
ing. During  his  brief  career  he  produced  over  40  plays,  poems,  and 
tales.  From  his  lyrics,  ''  Content,"  from  the  "  Farewell  to  Folly  "; 
"  Sephestia's  Song  to  her  Child,"  from  "  Menaphon  ";  and  the  "  Shep- 
herd Wife's  Song,"  from  the  "  Mourning  Garment,"  are  worthy  of 
being  copied  into  every  student's  notebook.  In  "  Much  Ado  about 
Nothing"  and  "As  You  Like  It"  there  is  ample  evidence  that  Shake- 
speare knew  his  Lyly  well.  George  Peele  (1552-1598)  had  some  of  the 
Shakespearean  power  of  painting  a  definite  picture  in  a  few  words. 
Robert  Greene  (1558-1592)  was  a  master  of  verisimilitude,  simple 
human  feeling,  and  plot  construction.  Lodge  and  Nashe  were  less  im- 
portant, but  all  five  men,  when  Shakespeare  arrived  in  London,  were 
in  the  heyday  of  a  popularity  such  as  some  novelists  enjoy  to-day. 

In  this,  however,  they  were  perhaps  surpassed  by  Thomas  Kyd 
(1558-1596),   whose  "Spanish   Tragedy"  was  rewritten  by   Ben 


122 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


Jonson  and  whose  "  Hamlet  "  formed  the  basis  for  Shakespeare's 
"  Hamlet."  He  shows  a  gift  for  displaying  character  superior  to  that 
of  any  of  his  predecessors,  though  Jonson,  in  derision,  called  him 
"  sporting  Kyd." 


A  reproduction  of  a  sketch  by  Johannes  Dc  Witt,  a  Dutch  scholar,  made  in  about  1569, 
of  the  Swan  Theatre,  London 

The  greatest  of  Shakespeare's  forerunners  in  the  drama,  however, 
was  Christ'  pher  Marlowe  (1564-1593 ) .  He  has  left  us  four  tragedies: 
"  Tamburlaine,"  "  The  Jew  of  Malta,"  "  Dr.  Faustus,"  and  "  Edward 
H,"  which  were  immensely  and  deservedly  popular  in  his  own  day,  and 
which,  aside  from  Shakespeare's,  have  no  superiors  in  English, 


WILLL\M  SHAKESPEARE  123 

"  Tamburlaine  the  Great  "  was  successfully  staged  in  1587,  was 
printed  in  1590,  and  long  retained  its  popularity.  The  grandeur  of 
its  style  and  the  fact  that  it  revolutionized  the  diction  of  the  popular 
drama  by  substituting  blank  verse  for  rhymed  couplets  led  Ben  Jonson 
justly  to  refer  to  "  Marlowe's  mighty  line."  No  student  of  English 
literature  can  afford  to  omit  reading  it  -^nd  all  of  Marlowe's  other 
plays.  Somebody  has  said  that  it  made  Tamburlaine  better  known 
in  England  than  in  his  own  Tartary.  Its  success,  says  Walter  Raleigh, 
is  perhaps  the  greatest  event  in  the  history  of  English  literature. 

It  was  followed  by  the  "  Tragical  History  of  Dr.  Faustus,"  which 
relates  with  scarcely  less  splendor  than  Goethe's  "  Faust  "  the  story 
of  a  mediaeval  necromancer  who  gave  his  soul  to  Lucifer  in  return  for 
24  years  of  unlimited  enjoyment.     The  closing  scene,  which  begins 

"  Ah,  Faustus. 
Now  hast  thou  hut  one  hare  hour  to  live, 
And  then  thou  must  be  damned  perpetually," 

excites  the  passions  of  pity  and  fear  to  a  degree  that  even  Shakespeare 
seldom  surpasses. 

The  "  Jew  of  Malta  "  is  in  some  respects  a  prototype  of  the  "  Mer- 
chant of  Venice."  Like  Shylock,  Barrabas  is  stripped  of  his  wealth 
by  the  Christians,  but,  unlike  him,  he  is  so  inhuman  in  his  revenge 
that  he  inspires  no  sentiments  save  horror  and  aversion.  Like  all  of 
Marlowe's  plays,  however,  the  "  Jew  of  Malta  "  is  rich  in  poetry. 

The  last  of  Marlowe's  plays,  "  Edward  II,"  was  the  first  of  that 
great  list  of  chronicle  plays  to  which  Shakespeare  was  the  chief  con- 
tributor but  which  was  enriched  in  the  last  century  by  Tennyson's 
"  Harold,"  "  Beket,"  and  "  Queen  Mary,"  Marlowe  thus  has  the 
distinction  of  founding  a  type.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  defeat 
of  the  Spanish  Armada  in  1588  turned  his  attention  to  this  patriotic 
theme  and  made  the  people  welcome  other  plays  on  subjects  taken 
from  English  history.  "  Edward  II  "  is  not  much  surpassed  even  by 
Shakespeare's  "  King  John."  Its  closing  scene,  like  tHe  closing  scene 
of  "  Dr.  Faustus  "  and  unlike  the  closing  scenes  in  some  ^-^  Shake- 
speare's tragedies,  is  the  best  in  the  play. 

Marlowe  was  killed  at  29  in  a  tavern  brawl.  His  career  thus 
came  to  an  end  just  as  Shakespeare's  was  beginning.    When  we  reflect 


1^24  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

that  they  were  almost  of  the  same  age  and  that  Shakespeare  had  done 
little  or  nothing  while  Marlowe  had  produced  enough  to  make  his 
name  immortal,  we  ask  what  he  would  not  have  been  had  he  lived. 
The  answer  is  silence.     To  quote  his  own  Faustus, 

"  Cut  is  the  branch  that  might  have  grown  full  straight, 
And  burned  is  Apollo's  laurel  bough 
That   sometime   grew   within   this   learned   man: 
Faustus  is  gone." 

Though  he  showed  little  comic  power,  had  apparently  no  understand- 
ing of  women,  and  lacked  Shakespeare's  sweetness,  light,  gentleness, 
and  morality,  he  undeniably  had  in  him,  as  Drayton  said,  "those  brave 
translunary  things  that  the  first  poets  had."  To  quote  Hibbert,  "  Kit 
Marlowe  is  beyond  comparison  the  finest  of  the  neglected  poets." 

When,  therefore,  Shakespeare  began  his  career  as  playwright,  he 
had  as  a  foundation  to  build  upon  a  national  drama  highly  popular 
and  developed  along  the  following  lines:  (1)  vigorous  native  comedy 
and  solid  ideals  of  morality  derived  from  the  miracles,  mysteries, 
moralities,  and  interludes;  (2)  the  classical  form  and  unity  introduced 
by  Sackville  and  Udall;  (3)  a  dainty  prose  style  contributed  by 
Lyly;  (4)  the  verisimilitude,  life,  vigor,  and  skill  in  plot  construction 
developed  by  Greene;  (5)  Kyd's  power  of  depicting  character;  and 
(6)  Marlowe's  blank  verse  and  real  poetry.  Though  at  first  he  did 
not  always  rate  each  of  these  elements  at  its  exact  value,  he  learned 
by  degrees,  as  we  shall  see,  to  reject  the  dross  and  to  appropriate 
the  gold  with  unerring  skill. 

At  Stratford  Shakespeare  had  probably  already  become  interested 
in  plays  and  actors.  At  all  events  he  soon  found  his  way  to  the 
London  theatres,  where  at  first  he  earned  a  precarious  living  by 
holding  horses  at  the  door,  but  soon  obtained  employment  as  callboy. 
Then  in  quick  succession  he  became  actor,  playwright,  and  part  owner 
of  a  theatre.  Within  seven  years  after  his  arrival  in  London  he  had 
become  sufficiently  prominent  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  Greene,  who,  in 
a  pamphlet  written  on  his  deathbed  in  1592  and  called  a  "  Groats- 
worth  of  Wit,"  says  of  him:  "  There  is  an  upstart  crow,  beautified 
with  our  feathers,  that  with  his  Tyger's  heart  wrapt  in  a  player's  hide 
('  Henry  VI,'  part  3),  supposes  he  is  as  well  able  to  bombast  out  a 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  125 

blank  verse  as  any  of  you,  and,  being  an  absolute  Johannes  factotum, 
is  in  his  owne  conceit  the  only  Shake-scene  in  a  countrie." 

During  these  seven  years,  his  education  outside  of  the  theatre 
must  have  progressed  at  a  prodigious  rate.  Like  Burns,  he  was 
evidently  brother  and  playmate  to  all  mankind.  Like  Terence,  he 
found  nothing  human  void  of  interest.  In  his  plays  there  is  ample 
evidence  that  he  knew  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  and  women — 
some  high,  some  low — thieves  and  saints — philosophers  and  fools — 
princes,  queens,  serving-women.  In  a  study  of  his  work,  it  is  of 
supreme  importance  to  remember  that  he  was  a  man  of  one  book  and 
that  that  book  was  the  human  race.  It  must  have  been  during  these 
seven  years  that  he  studied  it  most  closely  and  successfully. 

We  do  not  know  positively  the  order  in  which  he  wrote  his  plays, 
but  in  1598  Francis  Meres  (1565-1647)  published  a  book  called 
"  Palladis  Tamia,"  in  which  he  says: 

"  The  sweet  witty  soul  of  Ovid  lives  in  mellifluous  and  honey-tongued 
Shakespeare. 

Witness  his  '  Venus  and  Adonis,'  his  '  Lucrece ' ;  his  sugared  sonnets 
among  his  private  friends. 

As  Plautus  and  Terence  are  accounted  the  best  for  comedy  and  tragedy 
among  the  Latins,  so  Shakespeare  among  the  English  is  t^e  best  in 
both  kinds  of  the  stage. 

For  Comedy,  witness  his  '  Gentlemen  of  Verona ' ;  his  '  Errors  ' ;  his 
'  Love's  Labour's  Lost ' ;  his  '  Love's  Labour's  Won ''  { '  All's  Well 
that  Ends  Well')  ;  his  '  Midsummer  Night's  Dream';  and  his  '  Mer- 
chant of  Venice.' 

For  Tragedy :  His  '  Richard  H,'  '  Richard  IIL'  '  Henry  IV,'  '  King  John,' 
'  Titus    Andronicus,'   and   his    '  Romeo   and   Juliet.'  " 

This  evidence,  supplemented  by  a  study  of  the  style  of  the  plays 
themselves  by  an  army  of  critics  more  industrious  and  more  numerous 
than  ever  worked  on  a  similar  problem  before,  enables  us  to  fix  the 
order  of  the  plays  with  a  fair  degree  of  probability. 

The  first  seems  to  have  been  "  The  Comedy  of  Errors,"  which 
is  taken  from  the  "  Menaechmi  "  of  Plautus  and  is  a  carnival  of 
boisterous  fun  intermixed  with  passages  of  poetry  such  as  a  youth  of 
genius  might  produce  when  trying  his  'prentice  hand.  It  still  holds 
the  stage  by  virtue  of  the  mirth-provoking  powers  of  the  two  Dromios, 
who  are  so  identical  in  appearance  that  they  cannot  be  told  apart.  It 
is  known  to  have  been  acted,  1594,  but  was  not  printed  until  1623. 


126  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

The  second  was  probably  "  Titus  Andronicus,"  which  George  Saints- 
bury  says  in  a  sense  is  the  complement  of  the  "  Comedy  of  Errors  " 
and  might  be  called  "  The  Tragedy  of  Horrors,"  outrage  and  blood- 
shed taking  the  place  of  buffoonery  and  horse-play.  Of  20  characters, 
14  are  killed.  The  play  so  shocked  Burns  as  a  boy  that  he  could 
not  read  it  through.  In  these  two  plays  the  young  playwright  was 
probably  working  under  orders,  as  he  certainly  was  in  the  three 
parts  of  "  Henry  VI,"  which  probably  came  next.  These  are  some- 
times mistakenly  referred  to  by  critics  as  being  of  little  merit.  They 
are  just  as  good  as  Schiller's  "  Maid  of  Orleans,"  parts  of  which  they 
may  have  suggested,  or  as  Marlowe's  "  Edward  II."  They  are  bad 
only  in  comparison  with  Shakespeare's  later  work. 

In  "  Love's  Labour's  Lost,"  which  perhaps  came  next,  and  was 
printed  1598,  we  find  the  poet  less  under  the  orders  of  the  stage 
director.  The  result  is  a  play  uneven  but  full  of  beauty  and  promise. 
The  story  tells  how  the  King  of  Navarre  and  his  three  friends,  Biron, 
Longaville,  and  Dumain,  failed  in  an  attempt  to  study  three  years 
without  seeing  any  women,  the  reasons  for  this  result  being  four  in 
number — the  Princess  of  France  and  her  three  ladies  in  waiting,  Rosa- 
line, Maria,  and  Katharine.  The  minor  characters,  Nathaniel  the 
Curate,  Holofernes  the  Schoolmaster,  and  the  rational  hind  Costard, 
afford  some  admirable  fooling  by  way  of  satire  on  pedantry.  In 
character  portrayal  the  play  is  a  masterpiece.  It  is  also  full  of 
lines  that  live  in  all  memories.  In  Bartlett's  "  Dictionary  of  Familiar 
Quotations,"  indeed,  the  citations  from  "  Love's  Labour's  Lost  "  fill 
as  much  space  as  Marlowe  and  Lyly  combined.  The  play  ends  with 
one  of  Shakespeare's  best  songs. 

The  story  of  ''  All's  Well  Which  Ends  Well,"  which  was  perhaps 
Shakespeare's  next  play,  is  not  agreeable;  but  it  contains  two  charac- 
ters, the  statesman  Lafen  and  Parolles,  three-thirds  liar  and  coward, 
who  are  drawn  to  the  life.  The  scenes  depicting  the  way  the  latter's 
villainy  is  smoked  out  of  its  den  are  in  Shakespeare's  best  comic  vein. 

"  The  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona  "  belongs  to  the  same  period. 
Its  theme  is  embodied  in  one  sentence:  "  Were  man  but  constant,  he 
were  perfect."  Here,  too,  are  a  profusion  of  poetry,  lines  that  are 
unforgettable,  and  abundant  wit.    Launce  and  his  dog  remind  us  for- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  127 

cibly  also  that  Shakespeare  was  giving  his  audiences  what  the  EngHsh 
public  had  been  used  to  for  generations  by  way  of  clownish  antics. 
Indeed,  the  presence  of  a  clown  in  almost  every  Shakespearean  play 

■  Ydu  (land  within  his  danger,  doc  younot. 
ex/>;.  I.fo  hcfaycs. 
Tor.  Doc  you  con6:(rciht:  bond? 
t^n.  I  doe. 

Tor   Tlicn  muft  the  /cw  be  mcrcifu'l. 
Shy.  On  what  compuirion  moll  I,  fell  me  thaf. 
;      Por.  The  qtt.ilitie  ofmcrcie  is  not  ftraind, 
it  droppcfh  as  the  gentle  raine  from  heauen 
vpon  the  place  beneath :  it  is  twifc  bicft, 
-  it  bleflcth  him  that  giucs,  and  him  that  takes, 
tis  mightiert  in  tlie  mighticfl,  it  becomes 
the  throned  Monarch  better  then  his  crowne. 
His  fceptcr  /howcs  the  force  of  teirporall  povver» 
the  attribut  to  awe  and  inaicftie, 
wherein  doth  fit  the  dread  and  fearc  of  Kings : 
but  mcrcic  is  aboue  this  fceptrcd  fway, 
it  is  enthroned  in  the  harts  of  Kings, 
1  it  is  an  attiibut  to  God  himfelfe; 
\  and  earthly  power  doth  then  Qiow  likcft  gods 

when  mercie  fcafons  iullice:  therefore  /cw, 
I   thcm<th  iuflicc  be  thy  plea,  conflder  this, 

that  in  tiie  courfe  of  iuOice,  none  of  vs 
I   Hiould  fee  faluation  :  we  ^ot  pray  for  mercy, 
I   and  tliat  fame  prayer,  doth  teach  vs  all  to  render 
I   ehe-dccdcs  of  mercie.  I  hauc  fpokc  thus  iTiuch 
to  mittigate  the  iufhce  of  chy  plea, 
vvhich  if  thou  follow,  this  find  Court  of  Venice 
jnuft  needes  giue  fentencc  gainfl  the  Merchant  there. 

Shy,    My  deeds  vpon  my  head,  I  crauc  tKc  law, 
the  penalty  and  forfaitc  of  my  bond. 


PORTIA'S  SPEECH 
From  the  first  edition  of  "The  Merchant  of  Venice,"  printed  for  Thomas  Heyes,  1600 

points  eloquently  to  the  fact  that  even  the  master  poet  had  to  subdue 
his  hand  to  what  it  worked  in. 


1^8  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

With  the  "  Two  Gentlemen,"  Shakespeare's  apprenticeship  may- 
be said  to  end.  He  had  now  done  enough  to  excite  Greene's  jealousy 
and  to  be  able  to  demand  large  remuneration  for  his  work.  He  was 
popular.  He  had  friends  among  the  nobility.  His  financial  future 
seemed  secure.  He  longed,  however,  for  solid  literary  fame.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1593  he  published  what  he  called  "  the  first  heir  of  his 
invention,"  a  poem  entitled  "  Venus  and  Adonis."  It  was  followed  in 
1594  by  "  Lucrece,"  another  poem.  Both  proved  popular  and  both 
in  a  measure  deserved  their  popularity.  In  "  Venus  and  Adonis," 
which  relates  how  Venus  unsuccessfully  wooed  Adonis  and  how  the 
latter  was  killed  by  a  boar,  there  are  fine  descriptions  of  Adonis's 
horse,  of  the  boar,  and  of  a  hunted  hare.  Both  poems,  while  highly 
artistic,  are  cold;  somebody  has  compared  them  to  two  ice-houses. 

They  were  followed  quickly  by  four  plays  which  must  be  described 
in  far  other  terms — "  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,"  "  Romeo  and 
Juliet,"  "  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  and  the  "  Merchant  of 
Venice."  Their  merit  is  such  that  they  still  hold  the  stage  and  are 
read  by  all  educated  people  and  by  most  who  pretend  to  be.  Their 
success  when  first  produced  must  have  been  instant  and  enormous. 
At  all  events  they  filled  the  poet's  purse  so  full  that,  in  1597,  he 
bought  the  biggest  and  best  house  in  Stratford,  which  he  renamed 
"  Xew  Place."  Upon  the  treasury  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  players 
they  exercised  a  similar  influence;  their  old  playhouse  became  too 
small  to  hold  its  patrons;  and  accordingly  in  1599  we  find  a  new  one, 
known  in  literary  history  as  the  Globe,  being  erected  for  Shakespeare 
and  his  company. 

That  they  aroused  the  interest  of  the  reading  public  also  is  attested 
by  the  fact  that,  despite  all  efforts  to  prevent  it,  they  began  to  be 
printed,  either  from  stolen  copies  or  from  shorthand  notes.  To 
attempt  to  analyze  them  here  would  be  not  only  superfluous  but 
impudent.  There  is  only  one  way  for  the  student  to  gain  an  adequate 
idea  of  them,  and  that  is  to  read  them  again  and  again  and  yet  again. 

Along  with  them  came  a  great  series  of  chronicle  plays:  "  King 
John,"  "  Richard  11  "  and  "  Richard  III,"  the  two  parts  of  "  Henry 
IV,"  and  "  Henry  V."  Internal  evidence  seems  to  indicate  that  of 
these  "  King  John  "  was  the  earliest  to  be  written.     While  it  is  not 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  129 

rich  in  comedy,  like  Shakespeare's  later  histories,  it  abounds  in  poetry 
and  in  splendid  dramatic  situations.  The  character  of  the  son  of 
Richard  of  the  Lion  Heart  is  drawn  with  the  hand  of  a  master;  and 
the  scene  between  Prince  Arthur  and  Hubert,  whom  John  has  sent  to 
burn  out  the  boy's  eyes  with  hot  irons,  is  as  tense  and  pathetic  as  the 
closing  scenes  in  Marlowe's  "  Faustus  "  and  "  Edward  H,"  though  we 
are  spared  the  horror  of  Marlowe's  masterpieces.  Richard  II,  in  the 
play  of  that  name,  is  at  once  foolish,  tyrannical,  and  pathetic  to  an 
extent  that  enlists  sympathy.  He  is  weak  and  unjust  and  is  drawn 
with  such  skill  that  we  pity  him  when  just  retribution  in  the  person 
of  the  "  cankered  Bolingbroke  "  overtakes  him.  The  play  is  rich 
in  resounding  lines,  and  one  speech  of  "  old  John  of  Gaunt,  time 
honor'd  Lancaster,"  contains  the  quintessence  of  English  patriotism: 

"  This  royal  throne  of  kings,  this  scepter'd  isle, 
This  earth  of  majesty,  this  seat  of  Mars, 
This  other  Eden,  demi-Paradise ; 
This  fortress,  built  by  Nature  for  herself 
Against  infestion  and  the  hand  of  war; 
This  happy  breed  of  men,  this  little  world; 
This  precious  stone  set  in  the  silver  sea. 
Which  serves  it  in  the  office  of  a  wall. 
Or  as  a  moat  defensive  to  a  house. 
Against  the  envy  of  less  happier  lands  ; 
This  blessed  plot,  this  earth,  this  realm,  this  England." 

Though  it  must  have  been  written  at  about  the  same  period  as 
"  John  "  and  "  Richard  II,"  "  Richard  III  "  is  a  better  stage  play. 
Dealing,  as  it  does,  with  the  end  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  and  the 
beginning  of  an  era  of  prosperity  under  the  Tudors  that  reached  its 
zenith  in  Shakespeare's  own  day,  the  events  it  commemorated  were 
more  recent  in  men's  minds  and  not  less  calculated  to  win  popular 
applause  than  would  be  an  equally  great  play  on  George  Washington 
in  America  at  the  present  time.  King  Richard  himself  is  an  unusually 
picturesque  villain ;  and  his  opening  speech,  his  wooing  of  Lady  Anne, 
the  conversation  of  Clarence  with  Brackenbury  in  the  Tower,  the 
murder  of  the  little  princes,  and  the  closing  scenes  on  Bosworth  Field 
combine  poetic  and  dramatic  effect  in  a  high  degree.  Effective  as  it  is, 
however,  "  Richard  III  "  is  surely  one  of  Shakespeare's  early  plays. 
It  reeks  with  gore,  it  lacks  the  comic  element,  and,  as  in  all  of  his 
9 


130  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

early  plays,  the  poet  still  uses  a  large  percentage  of  rhyming  couplets. 
In  his  next  histories,  "  Henry  IV,  Parts  1  and  2,"  and  "  Henry  V," 
we  find  ourselves  in  a  different  world. 

"  Richard  HI  "  is  all  murder  and  melodrama;  but  "  Henry  IV  " 
is  full  of  fun  and  feasting.  Macaulay,  indeed,  considered  it  Shake- 
speare's best  comic  play,  and  no  wonder,  for  it  contains  Falstaff,  the 
most  successful  comic  figure  in  all  literature.  By  introducing  him 
and  his  companions  into  a  chronicle  play,  Shakespeare  humanized  the 
type  by  setting  fictitious  commoners  side  by  side  with  historic  princes. 
His  revels  with  Prince  Hal,  his  cowardice,  his  lying  effrontery,  his 
prodigious  fatness,  and  his  still  more  prodigious  wit  are  indescribable. 
To  gain  an  adequate  idea  of  them  one  must  read  the  play.  Queen 
Elizabeth  was  so  pleased  with  him  that  she  expressed  a  wish  to  see 
him  in  love;  and,  in  response  to  her  desire,  Shakespeare  in  fourteen 
days  produced  that  masterpiece  of  comedy,  "  The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor."  Yet  Falstaff  is  not  altogether  a  comic  figure.  When 
Henry  IV  is  dead  and  Prince  Hal  has  assumed  the  crown,  the  young 
monarch  disowns  the  companion  of  his  riotous  youth,  and  the  figure 
of  the  old  knight  suddenly  becomes  one  of  the  most  pathetic  in  all 
literature.  In  "  Henry  V  "  we  see  Prince  Hal,  now  king,  invade 
France,  win  the  battle  of  Agincourt,  and  return  in  triumph  to  Lon- 
don. Though  it  is  essentially  an  appeal  to  English  patriotism,  it  is 
rich  in  comedy  and  poetry.  Among  its  gems  are  Henry's  address  to 
his  army,  Henry's  wooing  of  the  French  princess,  and  the  characteriza- 
tion of  the  Welshman  Fluellen. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  year  1600  and  the  end  of  Shakespeare's 
apprenticeship.  Great  as  are  the  plays  that  precede,  those  that 
follow  are  greater  still.  During  the  first  eight  years  of  the  new  cen- 
tury, he  produced  the  ten  plays  that  mark  the  high-water  mark  of 
his  own  achievement,  which  is  equivalent  to  saying  the  high-water 
mark  of  world  literature.  These  fall  into  three  divisions.  In  the 
first  are  three  comedies,  "  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,"  "  Twelfth 
Night,"  and  "  As  You  Like  It."  The  second  contains  three  Roman 
histories,  "  Julius  Caesar,"  "  Coriolanus,"  and  "  Antony  and  Cleo- 
patra." "  Hamlet,"  "  Othello,"  "  Macbeth,"  and  "  Lear  "  constitute 
the  last  and  greatest  group.     One  of  the  most  noteworthy  characteris- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESrEARE  181 

tics  of  all  these  dramas  is  the  soundness  of  their  morality,  which  marks 
them  off  from  some  (not  all)  of  Shakespeare's  early  plays  and  from 
most  of  his  contemporaries'  work.  All  abound  in  wit,  in  humor,  in 
poetry,  and  in  human  interest. 

"  Much  Ado  about  Nothing  "  contains  the  two  immortal  police- 
men, Dogberry  and  Verges,  and  the  lovers  Benedick  and  Beatrice.  Of 
the  latter  George  Saintsbury  says:  "  They  are,  perhaps,  as  good  touch- 
stones as  any  in  Shakespeare.  No  one  but  an  '  innocent '  can  possibly 
fail  to  like  them;  no  one  but  a  charlatan  will  ever  pretend  not  to  do 
so."  "  Twelfth  Night  "  is  replete  with  rich  drollery  and  exquisite 
verse.  It  contains  three  perfectly  drawn  women,  Viola,  Olivia,  and 
Maria,  and  three  great  comic  figures,  Sir  Andrew  Aguecheek,  Sir 
Toby  Belch,  and  Malvolio,  the  last  being  an  incomparable  portrait 
of  one  of  those  essentially  good  men  who,  by  taking  themselves  too 
seriously,  impair  their  own  peace  of  mind  while  adding  to  the  merri- 
ment of  the  unworthy.  "  As  You  Like  It  "  is  probably  the  best  com- 
edy in  existence.  Its  forest  setting,  its  matchless  wit,  the  perfection 
of  its  blank  verse,  and  its  delicate  songs  form  a  world  in  which  the 
wise  and  yet  lovely  Rosalind,  Touchstone,  prince  of  fools,  and  the 
melancholy  Jacques  move  and  dispute  for  the  everlasting  joy  and 
edification  of  lusty  youth  and  crabbed  age. 

"  Julius  Caesar  "  is  even  richer  in  character  drawing.  Somebody 
has  said  that  it  almost  has  four  heroes — Caesar,  Brutus,  Cassius,  and 
Antony.  In  addition  there  are  the  sour  Casca  and  the  wonderfully 
drawn  Portia.  Antony's  speech  over  Caesar's  body  and  the  quarrel 
between  Brutus  and  Cassius  are  perhaps  as  deservedly  famous  as 
any  passages  in  Shakespeare.  The  spirit  of  the  whole  play  is  essen- 
tially modern.  Cassius  is  a  muck-raker  of  the  type  of  which  Dr. 
Johnson  said:  *'  Sir,  patriotism  is  the  last  refuge  of  a  scoundrel." 
Brutus  makes  one  think  of  another  of  his  sayings,  "  Hell  is  paved 
with  good  intentions."  Brutus's  efforts  to  reform  the  state  are  like 
the  efforts  of  a  blacksmith  to  mend  a  watch.  He  does  not  know  that 
assassination  has  never  changed  the  course  of  history.  He  is  an 
everlasting  type  of  virtuous  inefficiency,  clashing  in  Cassius  with 
disappointed  hypocrisy  and  in  Antony  with  that  practical  ability 
which  takes  things  as  it  finds  them.     There  are  many  Brutus's  to-day, 


132  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

and  they  are  quite  as  pathetic  as  the  Roman.  "Julius  Caesar"  was  prob- 
ably written  1603,  "  Coriolanus  "  and  "  Antony  and  Cleopatra,"  1608. 
"  Coriolanus/'  too,  is  strangely  modern.     The  hero,  a  brave,  noble, 
and  sincere  man,  has  rendered  great  public  services;  but  he  despises 

THE 

TRAGEDY 

OF 

HAMLET 

Prince  of  Denmarke. 

BY 

William  Shakespeare. 

Newly  imprinted  and  enlarged  to  almoft  as  much 

againc  as  itwa$,accordingto  the  true 

andperfcftCoppy. 


AT  LONDON. 

^AnK^CotMitSmdhmcke  andatetobefold  athisffioppe  • 

in  Saiot  Dnnftont  Church  ycard  in  FkctftiCJt. 

VndeTtheDiall.i5ii. 

Facsimile  of  title-page  to  the  fourth  edition  of  "Hamlet"  in  the  Quarto  Text.    (1611) 

inefficiency  and  hypocrisy,  has  a  violent  temper,  and  is  not  sufficiently 
polite  to  conceal  his  contempt  for  those  who  do  not  measure  up  to 
his  standard  of  merit.  The  result  is  that  he  is  banished  from  Rome, 
goes  over  to  the  Volscians,  renders  them  signal  services,  excites  the 
jealousy  of  their  leader  Aufidius,  and  perishes  through  his  machina- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  ISS 

tions.  The  career  of  Benedict  Arnold,  in  its  main  outlines,  affords 
a  close  parallel  to  that  of  Coriolanus.  His  great  services  to  the 
American  cause,  his  gallantry  at  Quebec  and  Saratoga,  the  ill- 
concealed  contempt  with  which  he  justly  regarded  General  Gates,  the 
lack  of  promotion  which  followed,  his  consequent  treason,  his  brilliant 
feats  of  arms  in  the  British  service,  and  the  obscure  infamy  in  which 
he  passed  his  declining  years  make  a  story  which  is,  if  possible,  more 
pathetic  than  that  of  Shakespeare's  hero.  In  "  Coriolanus  "  we  find 
that  Shakespeare's  style  has  changed.  It  is  less  quotable  but  more  com- 
pact than  that  of  "  Julius  Caesar."  Probably  it  would  be  no  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  it  does  not  contain  a  single  superfluous  sentence. 

"  Antony  and  Cleopatra  "  is,  like  "  Julius  Caesar,"  of  which  it  is 
a  sort  of  sequel,  based  on  Plutarch,  who  was  himself  a  great  writer. 
One  of  the  best  ways  to  learn  to  understand  Shakespeare's  peerless 
faculty  for  making  things  live  is  to  set  his  version  of  Antony's  down- 
fall side  by  side  with  Plutarch's.  Antony  is  a  brave  soldier  and  a 
true  friend,  ruined  by  his  love  for  Cleopatra,  who,  Hke  Falstaff,  in  spite 
of  having  about  all  of  the  faults  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  wins  our  admira- 
tion by  sheer  power  of  intellect.  Always  excepting  "  Hamlet," 
"  Othello,"  "  Macbeth,"  and  "  Lear,"  "  Antony  and  Cleopatra  "  is 
to  be  reckoned  among  the  greatest  of  Shakespeare's  plays. 

"  Hamlet  "  was  probably  finished  1602.  It  is  the  longest,  the 
most  discussed,  and  the  oftenest  quoted  of  Shakespeare's  plays.  In 
Furness's  Variorum  Edition  it  occupies  two  volumes,  one  of  473,  the 
other  of  429  pages,  while  "  King  Lear  "  fills  only  one  volume  of  502 
pages.  The.bibliography  alone  in  this  work  occupies  33  pages.  The 
discussion  of  the  question  of  Hamlet's  madness  has  become  one  of 
the  national  pastimes  of  the  English.  In  Bartlett's  "  Dictionary  of 
Familiar  Quotations  "  the  play  occupies  20  pages,  or  twice  as  much 
as  Chaucer  and  Spenser  combined.  Hamlet  himself  is  perhaps  of  all 
Shakespeare's  men  the  most  attractive.  He  is  at  once  a  gentleman, 
a  scholar,  and  a  poet,  "  the  mould  of  fashion  and  the  glass  of  form." 
As  Goethe  says,  he  is  a  lovely  vase.  In  this  vase  there  is  planted  an 
acorn.  It  bursts.  Its  roots  expand.  The  vase  is  shivered  to  pieces. 
This  acorn  is  the  necessity  of  revenging  the  murder  of  his  father. 
Endowed  by  nature  with  an  exquisite  capacity  for  appreciating  the 


184  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

true,  the  good,  and  the  beautiful,  he  is  forced  by  the  remorseless 
logic  of  events  to  give  up  his  books,  to  despise  his  mother,  to  discard 
his  friends,  to  break  his  Ophelia's  heart,  to  stain  his  hands  with  gore, 
and  to  perish  himself  in  the  ruin  of  all  he  holds  dear.  All  of  this 
might  have  been  averted  had  he  been  a  man  of  action.  The  play  is 
therefore  an  everlasting  sermon  on  the  inadequacy  of  books,  scholar- 
ship, pedantry.  In  every  line  it  is  astonishingly  fresh  and  modern. 
It  was  a  common  saying,  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  in  view  of 
the  scholarship  of  the  Germans,  that  "  Germany  is  Hamlet."  But 
when  in  1877  Furness  published  his  "  Variorum  Hamlet,"  in  words 
that  hark  back  to  1871  and  forward  to  1914,  he  dedicated  it  to  the 
Shakespeare  society  of  Weimar  as  "  representative  of  a  people  whose 
recent  history  has  proved  that '  Germany  is  not  Hamlet.'  " 

Hamlet  lacks  will  power.  He  knows  that  he  ought  to  kill  Claudius, 
but  he  cannot  bring  himself  to  do  it.  In  this  he  is  in  contrast  to 
Macbeth.  Hamlet  philosophizes  about  what  he  is  to  do  but  does  not 
act;  Macbeth  kills  Duncan  and  spends  the  rest  of  his  life  in  philoso- 
phizing about  it  and  in  getting  deeper  and  deeper  into  a  sea  of  blood. 
Like  Claudius,  he  is  a  "  limed  soul  that,  struggling  to  be  free,"  is 
"more  engaged."  He  resembles  a  fly  stuck  on  a  piece  of  fly-paper.  He 
is,  for  all  his  headlong  impetuosity,  really  weaker  than  Hamlet.  While 
the  latter  sees  quite  through  his  mother  and  Ophelia,  Macbeth  permits 
himself  to  be  bullied,  hoodwinked,  and  led  into  temptation  by  his  wife. 
Even  in  length  ''  Macbeth  "  is  the  antithesis  of  "  Hamlet,"  being  one  of 
Shakespeare's  shortest  plays,  which  is  indeed  a  natural  consequence 
of  its  theme,  "  Look  before  you  leap."  In  one  respect,  however,  the 
two  plays  are  alike.  Both  are  marked  by  a  richness  of  detail,  a 
felicity  of  language,  and  a  power  of  character  portrayal  such  as  no 
other  author  has  attained.  Different  as  are  the  Weird  Sisters  in 
"  Macbeth  "  and  the  Ghost  in  "  Hamlet,"  they,  along  with  the  Fairies 
in  "  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  constitute  the  most  wonderful 
group  of  evil  thoughts,  hallucinations,  and  dreams  in  all  literature. 

"Macbeth"  was  probably  finished  1605;  "Othello"  seems  to 
have  been  acted  at  court  November  1,  1604.  Macaulay  considered  it 
Shakespeare's  greatest  play.  Othello,  a  black  man,  by  virtue  of  his 
great  qualities  as  a  soldier,  wins  and  weds  Desdemona,  a  dainty  Vene- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  135 

tian  lady.  lago,  his  ancient,  enraged  because  Othello  has  promoted 
Cassio  in  preference  to  him,  with  diabolical  ingenuity  excites  Othello's 
jealousy  until,  in  a  fit  of  madness,  he  slays  his  innocent  wife.  The 
play  is  thus  in  a  way  a  sermon  against  ill-assorted  marriages.  Every- 
thing about  it  is  swift,  powerful,  overwhelmingly  pitiful. 

In  its  companion,  "  King  Lear,"  we  have  a  picture  of  an  old  man 
who  seeks  to  escape  from  his  responsibilities.  Unlike  Macbeth,  Lear 
will  not  "  die  with  harness  on  his  back."  Instead  he  decides  to  divide 
his  kingdom  among  his  three  daughters — Goneril,  Regan,  and  Cor- 
delia. Before  doing  so  he  requires  each  to  make  expression  of  her 
love  for  him.  Goneril  and  Regan  please  him  with  fulsome  adulation; 
Cordelia,  disgusted,  speaks  coldly.  Enraged,  he  disowns  her,  and 
gives  half  his  kingdom  to  Goneril  and  half  to  Regan,  reserving  certain 
dignities  to  himself.  As  soon  as  they  can,  they  proceed  to  strip  him 
of  these;  and,  in  spite  of  Cordelia's  opposition,  they  succeed.  Lear's 
madness,  which  is  a  result  of  their  ingratitude,  is  one  of  the  most 
terrible  things  in  literature,  and  the  character  of  his  Fool,  who,  amid 
the  wreck  of  his  master's  fortunes,  remains  true,  one  of  the  most 
wonderful.  "  His  extraordinary  success,"  says  George  Saintsbury, 
"  has  never  been  denied  save  by  his  unofficial  successors." 

These  four  peerless  masterpieces  have  been  called  the  four  wings  of 
Shakespeare's  spirit  and  the  four  wheels  of  his  chariot.  They  raised 
him  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  contemporary  fame,  creating  a  demand 
for  his  work  which  he  evidently  found  himself  unable  single-handed 
to  supply.  The  story  is  that  he  had  made  a  contract  to  furnish  the 
Globe  Theatre  with  two  plays  a  year.  In  his  weariness  he  had 
recourse  to  one  or  all  of  three  very  natural  expedients.  He  hastily 
worked  over  some  pieces  which  he  had  previously  begun  and  aban- 
doned ;  he  retouched  some  plays  by  other  writers,  adding  a  scene  here 
and  there;  or  he  employed  others  to  fill  in  outlines  which  he  himself 
sketched.  The  result  was  that  'there  appeared  under  his  name  five 
plays  vastly  inferior  to  his  best  but  all  bearing  more  or  less  unmis- 
takably the  marks  of  the  master's  hand.  These  are  "  Troilus  and 
Cressida,"  "  Timon  of  Athens,"  "  Pericles,"  "  Measure  for  Measure," 
and  "  Henry  VHL"  "  Troilus  and  Cressida  "  is  a  lively  dramatiza- 
tion from  the  "  Iliad  ";  in  "  Timon  of  Athens  "  the  theme,  like  that 


136  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

of  "  Lear,"  is  ingratitude;  and  "  Pericles  "  is  a  rambling  story  based 
on  Gower,  which  may  perhaps  account  for  the  fact  that  it  is  the  dullest 
thing  Shakespeare  ever  wrote,  if  indeed  he  had  any  hand  in  it.  Some 
things  in  it,  however,  must  be,  says  George  Saintsbury,  "  aut  Shake- 
speare aut  diabolus,  and  it  must  have  been  a  most  superior  fiend 
who  forged  the  shipwreck  passage."  While  "  Measure  for  Measure  " 
and  "  Henry  VIII  "  contain  some  of  the  best  things  in  Shakespeare, 
they  are  vastly  inferior,  the  one  to  "  As  You  Like  It,"  the  other  to 
"  Henry  IV."  This  group  of  plays,  indeed,  reminds  one  forcibly  of 
Pope's  acute  comment: 

"  Shakespeare,  whom  you  and  every  playhouse  bill, 
Style  the  divine,  the  rri^tchless,  what  you  will, 
For  gain,  not  glory,  winged  his  roving  flight. 
And  grew  immortal  in  his  own  despite." 

In  other  words,  while  he  wished  for  solid  literary  fame,  he  expected 
to  gain  it  from  his  plays  as  little  as  Rudyard  Kipling  or  Maurice 
Maeterlinck  would  expect  to-day  to  gain  it  by  writing  librettos  for  the 
"  movies."  He  has  left  on  record  his  envy  and  admiration  of  Spenser's 
fame  and  his  impatience,  not  to  say  contempt,  for  the  theatre.  In  two 
early  poems,  as  we  have  already  seen,  he  had  tried  to  win  a  permanent 
name.  Probably  realizing  the  insufficiency  of  his  "  Venus  "  and 
"  Lucrece  "  for  this  purpose,  in  1609  he  allowed  one  of  his  friends 
to  print  in  addition  a  little  volume  which  of  itself  would  have  sufficed 
to  make  his  name  immortal.  It  contained  154  sonnets.  Some,  if 
not  all,  of  them  had  been  written  years  before.  Probably  they  are  a 
spiritual  diary  of  a  portion  of  the  poet's  earlier  life.  Their  meaning 
has  been  a  source  of  interminable  controversy,  but  one  thing  is  certain: 
there  is  nothing  commonplace  about  them  except  the  people  who  have 
written  comments  on  them.  They  are  full  of  superb  poetry.  In  lines 
such  as  these  the  high-water  mark  of  English  verse  is  reached: 

"  When  forty  winters  shall  besiege  thy  brow 
And  dig  deep  trenches  in  thy  beauty's  field, 
Thy  youth's  proud  livery,  so  gazed  on  now. 

Will  be  a  tattered  weed,  of  small  worth  held."  II. 

"  Thou  art  thy  mother's  glass,  and  she  in  thee 

Calls  back  the  lovely  April  of  her  prime."  III. 

"And  stretched  metre  of  an  antique  song."  XVII, 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  1S7 

"  Tlie  painful  warrior   famoused   for  fight, 
After  a  thousand  victories  once  foiled, 
Is  from  the  book  of  honour  razed  quite. 
And  all  the  rest  forgot  for  which  he  toiled."  XXV. 

"  Not  marble,  not  the  gilded  monuments 
Of  princes,  shall  outlive  this  powerful  rhyme."  LV. 

It  is  impossible,  however,  by  quotation  to  convey  an  idea  of  the 
power  and  beauty  of  these  sonnets.  The  student  who  wishes  to  dis- 
cover what  they  are  at  their  best  should  read  18,  30,  33,  56,  73,  98, 
106,  116,  and  130.  If,  after  that,  he  does  not  voluntarily  read  the 
rest,  he  may  escape  whipping,  but  he  should  banish  from  his  mind 
the  idea  that  he  can  learn  to  appreciate  literature. 

The  year  previous  to  the  publication  of  the  sonnets,  Shakespeare 
had  retired  to  Stratford  and  taken  up  his  dwelling  in  New  Place. 
In  his  novel,  "  Judith  Shakespeare,"  William  Black  has  made  a  pic- 
ture of  the  poet's  life  there  which  can  be  read  without  much  intellec- 
tual exertion  and  with  some  pleasure  as  well  as  profit.  Black  depicts 
Judith  as  the  light  of  her  father's  house.  We  have  better  evidence 
than  his,  however,  that  in  her  he  found  the  chief  comfort  and  delight 
of  his  declining  years.  Tired  as  he  was,  he  continued  to  write,  but  in 
a  less  strenuous  spirit.  After  the  storm  and  stress  of  "  Othello  "  and 
"  Lear,"  his  bark  found  calmer  waters  in  the  romantic  beauty  of 
"  A  Winter's  Tale,"  "  Cymbeline,"  and  "  The  Tempest."  In  each 
of  these  the  most  attractive  figure  is  a  daughter;  and,  while  Perdita, 
Imogene,  and  Miranda  are  as  different  as  three  good  and  lovely  young 
women  can  be,  it  seems  as  if  there  must  be  something  of  Judith 
Shakespeare  in  each  of  them. 

Aside  from  Perdita,  the  most  interesting  thing  about  "  A  Winter's 
Tale  "  is  the  picture  it  contains  of  the  rogue  Autolycus,  who  is  at 
once  peddler,  thief,  and  ballad  monger.  Just  as  we  are  shown  in 
"  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  "  how  the  rude  mechanicals  presented 
their  crude  plays  in  mediaeval  England,  so  we  are  shown  in  "  A 
Winter's  Tale  "  how  a  travelling  fakir  sang  and  sold  ballads  to  clown 
and  shepherd.  It  is  all  ludicrously  realistic  and  yet  for  poetry  one 
of  the  ballads  of  Autolycus  is  unmatchable  even  in  Shakespeare: 

"  When  daffodils  begin  to  peer. 
With  heigh  !  the  doxy  over  the  dale, 
Why,  then  comes  in  the  sweet  o'  the  year." 


138  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Cymbeline  "  is  as  riotous  and  sweet  with  disorderly  beauty  as  an 
abandoned  back  pasture  on  a  Vermont  hillside  in  the  early  days  of 
July  when  the  wild  raspberries  are  beginning  to  ripen.  The  easiest 
way  to  form  an  idea  of  its  power  and  charm  is  to  remember  that 
Tennyson,  on  his  death-bed,  called  for  the  volume  that  contained  it, 
and  that  when  he  breathed  his  last  it  was  clasped  in  his  hands. 

"  The  Tempest  "  was  the  last  of  Shakespeare's  works  to  be  writ- 
ten.    Along  with  the  "  Comedy  of  Errors,"  it  differs  in  one  respect 
from  all  of  his  other  plays.    It  observes,  or  almost  observes,  the  Greek 
rule  that  the  action  of  a  drama  must  be  confined  to  one  place  and  to 
24  hours.    The  disregard  of  these  unities,  as  they  are  called,  enabled 
Shakespeare  to  "  hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature,"  thereby  giving  to 
his  work  a  variety  and  richness  which  the  Greek  drama  lacks,  though 
at  the  sacrifice  of  severe  simplicity  of  effect.     In  the  "  Tempest," 
however,  he  combined  Greek  unity  with  the  rich  coloring  that  marks 
his  best  work.     The  play  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  marvellous  crea- 
tions of  the  human  mind.    Prospero,  King  of  Naples,  and  his  daughter 
Miranda  are  exposed  on  a  desert  island  by  a  usurper;  by  magic  arts 
he  subdues  to  his  will  Ariel,  the  most  spiritual,  and  Caliban,  the 
grossest,  of  its  denizens;  the  usurper,  being  wrecked  on  the  island, 
falls  into  Prospero 's  power ;  and  the  end  is  happy.    Not  without  reason 
have  some  critics  seen  in  the  "  Tempest  "  a  spiritual  autobiography 
of  the  poet  and  a  farewell  to  his  art.    Prospero  is  Shakespeare ;  Naples, 
Stratford;  the  island,  London;  Ariel,  air;  Caliban,  earth;  Prospero 's 
magic  art,  with  which  he  subdues  the  world,  poetry,  etc.,  etc.    And, 
when  the  tempest  is  over,  Prospero  buries  his  book  and  takes  leave  of 
his  art  in  words  that  seem  designed  by  Shakespeare  for  his  own 
farewell  to  the  stage  and  an  exposition  of  his  philosophy  of  life: 

"  Our   revels   now   are   ended.     These   our   actors, 
As  I  foretold  you,  were  all  spirits,  and 
Are  melted  into  air,  into  thin  air ; 
And,  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  this  vision, 
The  cloud-capp'd  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself. 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve, 
And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded. 
Leave  not  a  rack  behind.     We  are  such  stuff 
As  dreams  are  made  on,  and  our  little  life 
Is  rounded  with  a  sleep." 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  139 

When,  in  1613,  Shakespeare  wrote  this  marvellous  good-bye,  he 
was  already  weary.  As  Walter  Raleigh  finely  says,  "  For  many  years 
he  took  upon  himself  the  burden  of  the  human  race,  and  struggled  in 
thought  under  the  oppression  of  sorrows  not  his  own."  It  made  him 
prematurely  old.  On  January  25,  1616,  he  made  his  will.  On  April 
21  he  died,  and  on  April  25  was  buried  in  Trinity  Church,  Stratford. 

He  left  the  preservation  of  his  plays  to  two  of  his  fellow  actors, 
J.  Heminge  and  H.  Condell,  who  accordingly  in  1623  published  what 
is  called  the  first  foho  edition  of  Shakespeare.  It  contained  the 
Droeshout  portrait  of  the  author  and  36  of  his  plays,  "  Pericles  "  not 
being  included.  Three  other  folios,  which  appeared  1632,  1663,  and 
1685,  were  sufficient  to  supply  the  demand  during  the  rest  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  During  the  eighteenth,  eleven  separate  editions 
of  Shakespeare  were  published  in  England  and  one,  that  of  S.  Johnson, 
1795,  in  America;  during  the  nineteenth  28  appeared,  six  of  them  in 
America,  three  on  the  Continent;  while  the  first  ten  years  of  the 
twentieth  century  produced  no  less  than  nine.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
Heminge  and  Condell  were  not  scholars  or  printers  and  the  circum- 
stance that  they  did  not  possess  a  perfect  copy  of  the  plays,  they 
left  the  text  of  Shakespeare  in  an  unsatisfactory  condition.  It  was 
not  until  Rowe,  in  1 709,  brought  out  the  first  critical  edition,  that  any 
real  progress  was  made  in  the  direction  of  improving  it.  Since  then  a 
host  of  scholars  have  lavished  time  and  skill  upon  the  text  to  such  good 
effect  that  to-day,  while  not  perfect,  it  is  free  from  gross  absurdities. 

Shakespeare's  overpowering  genius  was  amply  recognized  by  his 
contemporaries.  We  have  Ben  Jonson's  testimony  that  all  men  in  his 
day  agreed  that  neither  man  nor  muse  could  praise  his  work  too 
much.  He  puts  Shakespeare  in  a  class  by  himself  above  Chaucer, 
Spenser,  yEschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Seneca,  Aristophanes, 
Plautus,  and  Terence;  exclaims  that  in  him  Britain  has  one  triumph 
to  which  all  scenes  of  Europe  homage  owe;  and  declares  that  the 
sweet  swan  of  Avon  is  not  of  an  age  but  for  all  time.  In  every  genera- 
tion since  the  greatest  English  writers  have  paid  tribute  to  his  genius. 
John  Milton  (1608-1674)  called  him  "  sweetest  Shakespeare,  fancy's 
child."  John  Dryden  (1632-1700)  said,  in  contrasting  him  with 
Jonson  and  Fletcher, 


IK)  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  But  Sliakespeare's  magic  could  not  copied  be ; 
Within  that  circle  none  durst  walk  but  he." 

Alexander  Pope  (1688-1744)  referred  to  the  "  flowers  eternal  "  that 
blow  on  Avon's  bank.     Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  (1709-1784)  wrote: 

"  Existence  saw  him  spurn  her  bounded  reign, 
And  panting  time  toil'd  after  him  in  vain." 

•To  him,"  said  Thomas  Gray  (1716-1771),  "the  mighty  mother 
(I.e.,  Nature)  did  unveil  her  awful  face."    Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge 
(1772-1834)  thought  that  he  had  fused  the  universal  and  the  par- 
ticular with  more  success  than  any  other  poet.    John  Keats  (1795- 
1821)  described  his  genius  as  an  inmate  universality;  he  could  do 
easily  man's  utmost,  he  said.    Ah'red  Tennyson  (18^9-1892)  consid- 
ered "  Hamlet  "  the  greatest  creation  in  literature.    Thomas  Carlyle 
(1795-1881)  commended  his  laughter;  Dogberry  and  Verges,  he  said, 
tickle  our  very  souls;  such  mirth,  like  sunshine  on  the  deep  sea,  is  very 
beautiful.    The  sincerest  tribute  to  his  genius,  however,  was  paid  by 
America's  friend,  George  IH,  when  he  said:  "  Was  there  ever  such 
stuff  as  great  part  of  Shakespeare?    Only  one  must  not  say  so.    But 
what  think  you?    What?    Is  there  not  sad  stuff?    What?    What?  " 
There  was  a  copy  of  Shakespeare  in  the  library  of  the  French 
king  as  early  as  1675.    In  1682  his  name  was  mentioned  in  a  German 
book.    His  real  European  fame,  however,  did  not  begin  until  1733, 
when    Voltaire    introduced    him    to    the    French    public.     Voltaire 
regarded  Shakespeare  as  a  kind  of  inspired  barbarian,  but  did  him 
the  honor  to  try  to  improve  "  Julius  Caesar,"  "  Hamlet,"  "  Othello," 
and  "  Macbeth."    In  1741  "  Julius  Caesar  "  was  translated  into  Ger- 
man, and  in  1746  parts  of  ten  plays  into  French.     In  1759  Lessing, 
having  concluded  that  Shakespeare  is  greater  than  Corneille  and 
almost  as  great  as  Sophocles,  recommended  that  German  authors  study 
in  his  works  the  art  of  writing.     From  1776  Shakespeare  occupied 
a  prominent  place  on  the  German  stage.     Between  1797  and  1810 
August  Wilhelm  Schlegel  published  under  the  title,  "  Shakespeare's 
Dramatische  Werke,  iibersetzt  von  August  Wilhelm  Schlegel,"  a  mar- 
vellous translation  of  "  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  "  A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream,"  "  Julius  Caesar,"  "  Twelfth  Night,"  "  The  Tempest,"  "  Ham- 
let," "  The  Merchant  of  Venice,"  "  As  You  Like  It,"  "  King  John," 


WILLIAM  SH.iKESPEARE  141 

"  Richard  II,"  "  Henry  IV,"  "  Henry  V,"  "  Henry  VI,"  and  ''  Richard 
III."  To  this  great  work  belongs  the  credit  of  having  made  Shake- 
speare the  joint  possession  of  two  nations.  It  made  Germany  regard 
Shakespeare,  not  as  the  rival  of  Sophocles,  but  as  the  voice  of  Nature ; 
it  revealed  a  romantic  fairyland  of  which  the  classic  drama  knew 
nothing;  it  showed  Germany,  through  ''  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  "Othello," 
and  the  "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  the  poetic  charm  of  Italy.  Goethe  and 
Schiller,  along  with  a  host  of  lesser  dramatists,  felt  all  this,  and  learned 
their  art,  not  from  the  Greeks  and  French,  but  from  the  great  English- 
man. In  France,  his  merit  has  not  been  equally  recognized.  As 
late  as  1822  "  Othello  "  and  "  Hamlet  "  were  hissed  off  the  Parisian 
stage.  In  1829,  however,  "  Othello  "  won  a  triumph  at  the  Theatre 
Frangaise;  and  in  1847  Alexandre  Dumas  translated  "  Hamlet." 
Alfred  de  Musset,  Guizot,  Lamartine,  and  Victor  Hugo  imitated, 
translated,  and  praised  the  plays,  while  Delacroix  used  them  in  his 
pictures  and  Berlioz  in  his  music,  so  that  it  may  fairly  be  said  that, 
since  1850,  Shakespeare's  supremacy  in  modern  Hterature  has  not 
been  seriously  questioned  in  France.  Though  in  Italy  the  great  actors 
Salvini,  Rossi,  Adelaide  Ristori,  and  Eleonora  Duse  made  Shakespeare 
familiar,  and  several  of  his  plays  furnished  subjects  for  operas,  it 
was  not  until  1882  that  his  complete  works  were  translated  into 
Italian.  Holland  lacked  a  satisfactory  version  until  1880.  In  1813 
"  Hamlet  "  established  Shakespeare's  fame  in  Denmark.  Sweden  had 
a  translation  as  early  as  1851,  Russia  1865,  and  Poland  1875.  In 
America  he  always  has  been  and  is  now  the  most  popular,  as  well  as 
the  most  admired,  of  playwrights.  American  scholars  have  studied 
his  text  and  American  actors  have  interpreted  it  with  a  zeal  and  suc- 
cess equal  to  that  of  their  English  and  German  rivals.  Somebody  has 
calculated  that,  in  Chicago  alone,  during  a  certain  period  of  ten  years, 
there  were  over  1000  productions  of  Shakespearean  plays,  while  his 
nearest  rival,  the  author  of  one  of  those  unspeakable  mixtures  of 
vulgarity  and  dulness  which  are  known  as  musical  comedies,  barely 
attained  the  total  of  500  performances.  The  most  noteworthy  tribute 
ever  paid  to  any  bard,  however,  was  bestowed  upon  Shakespeare  when, 
shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  the  great  war  in  1914.  the  Germans,  in 
spite  of  their  hatred  of  England,  adopted  him  as  their  national  poet. 


U2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Indeed,  the  fact  that  in  Germany  Shakespeare  is  read  in  a  version 
which  is  comparatively  modern  may  perhaps  have  caused  the  Germans 
as  a  nation  to  appreciate  his  power  more  fully  than  is  now  possible  in 
a  country  where  the  language  is  English. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  was  a  cycle  play  and  what  part  had  it  in  English  dramatic  history  ? 

2.  Who  was  Terence  and  what  was  his  relation  to  the  history  of  English 

literature? 

3.  Name   four  of  the  immediate  predecessors   of   William   Shakespeare, 

with  a  note  as  to  the  work  of  each.  , 

4.  Amplify  the  statement  that  Shakespeare  was  "a  brother  and  playmate 

to  mankind." 

5.  What    were    some    of    the    interesting    characteristics    of    Elizabethan 

dramatists  and  dramatic  productions  ? 

6.  What  play  of  Shakespeare's  have  you  liked  the  best?  What  secret  to 

the  way  of  life  does  it  unveil  to  you? 

7.  Trace  briefly,  but  thoroughly,  Shakespeare's  career  as  we  know  it. 

8.  In  what  respects  did  Marlowe  fall  short  of   Shakespeare? 

9.  Why   is   a  play   of   Shakespeare's   more   worth   seeing  than  a   musical 

comedy  ? 
10.  If  none  of  Shakespeare's  plays  had  been  handed  down  to  us,  why  would 
he  yet  be  an  immortal? 

Suggested  Readings. — No  student,  old  or  young,  can  read  too  many  of 
Shakespeare's  plays  or  read  them  too  often.  It  is  the  source  from  which 
many  great  men  have  obtained  their  education.  To  begin :  read  "  Julius 
Cssar  "  :  an  English  historical  play,  "  Richard  I  "  ;  a  tragedy,  "  Macbeth  " 
or  "  Othello  "  ;  a  comedy,  "  The  Merchant  of  Venice  "  or  "  As  You  Like 
It."  A  revealing  volume  for  collateral  reading  is  Professor  Edward 
Dowden's  "  Shakspere,  His  Mind  and  Art."  The  best  biography  is  Walter 
Raleigh's. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FRANCIS  BACON   (1561-1626) 

"  The  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of   mankind." — Pope. 
"  The  prince  of  all  philosophers." — Macaiday. 

The  age  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  according  to  Lord  Macaulay,  pro- 
duced not  only  the  prince  of  all  poets,  as  he  calls  William  Shakespeare, 
but  also  the  prince  of  all  philosophers,  as  he  describes  Francis  Bacon, 
or,  to  be  more  exact,  Baron  Verulam,  Viscount  St.  Albans.  This 
remarkable  man  was  born  January  22,  1561,  at  York  House,  an 
ancient  palace  located  on  the  Strand  in  London,  which  was  at  that 
time  the  official  residence  of  his  father.  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  the  Lord 
Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  of  England  and  one  of  the  statesmen  who 
made  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  illustrious.  His  mother  was  a  sister 
of  Lady  Cecil,  the  wife  of  that  Lord  Burleigh  who  made  Spenser's 
life  so  unhappy.  She  had  been  tutor  to  Edward  VI  and  was  renowned 
for  her  exquisite  mastery  of  Greek  and  Latin.  Francis  seems  to 
have  inherited  the  brilliancy  of  his  parents  and  to  have  shown 
that  brilliancy  at  an  early  age,  for  when  he  was  still  a  mere 
lad  Queen  Elizabeth  is  said  to  have  addressed  him  admiringly  as 
"  my  little  Lord  Keeper."  At  the  age  of  12,  he  was  ready  for 
Cambridge  and  was  entered  at  Trinity  College,  where  he  is  said 
to  have  been  disgusted  with  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle.  When  he 
was  19  he  lost  his  father  and  was  compelled,  much  against  his  will, 
to  apply  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law  for  the  purpose  of  earning 
a  living,  though  his  real  interest  from  the  first  lay  in  literary  and 
philosophical  pursuits.  At  the  age  of  24  we  find  him  a  member  of 
Parliament  and  at  31  he  was  writing  to  his  powerful  uncle,  Burleigh, 
but  writing  in  vain,  to  obtain  for  himself  a  job  with  a  reasonable 
salary  and  no  duties,  that  he  might  be  able  to  devote  himself  to  his 
studies.  For  some  reason  Burleigh  refused  to  assist  him  and  Bacon 
turned  from  him  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  then  Elizabeth's  favorite, 
in  whom  he  found  an  appreciative  friend  and  patron.  Essex  in  1593 

143 


144  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

made  strenuous  efforts  to  obtain  for  Bacon  the  position  of  attorney- 
general  and  a  rich  wife,  and,  failing  in  both  undertakings,  presented 
him  with  an  estate  at  Twickenham  valued  at  eighteen  hundred  pounds. 
In  the  struggle  for  both  these  ends.  Bacon  came  into  collision  with 


FRANCIS  BACON 

1561 — 1626 

From  the  portrait  by  Paul  Van  Somer 


the  famous  lawyer,  Sir  Edward  Coke,  who  obtained  both  the  office 
and  the  lady;  incidentally,  the  men  became  life-long  enemies.  Bacon 
repaid  the  efforts  of  Essex  in  his  behalf  by  an  act  of  perfidy  that 
has  hardly  a  parallel  in  history.     Essex  was  a  proud  and  hot-headed 


FRANCIS  BACON  145 

man  and  these  qualities  finally  caused  him  to  lose  the  favor  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  In  his  efforts  to  regain  it,  he,  contrary  to  Bacon's  advice, 
committed  first  indiscreet  and  then  treasonable  acts.  In  the  prose- 
cution which  followed,  Bacon,  in  order  to  win  the  favor  of  the  Queen, 
consented  to  appear  against  his  friend  and  was  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing his  condemnation  and  execution.  This  signal  proof  of  subser- 
viency did  not,  however,  advance  him  in  Elizabeth's  confidence,  and 
it  was  not  until  her  successor,  James  I,  came  to  the  throne  that  he 
began  to  make  much  progress  in  a  material  way.  Upon  James's  acces- 
sion he  was  made  a  knight,  along  with  three  hundred  others,  and 
repaid  his  patron  by  using  his  great  talents  in  parliament  to  promote 
the  power  of  the  crown  against  the  rights  of  the  people.  In  1607 
he  became  solicitor-general,  in  1613  attorney-general,  in  1616  lord 
chancellor,  in  1618  Baron  Verulam,  and  in  1620  Viscount  St.  Albans. 
In  connection  with  these  various  offices  he  undoubtedly  performed 
some  great  public  services,  the  chief  of  them  being  in  connection  with 
the  political  union  of  England  and  Scotland,  and  he  discharged  his 
duties  with  efficiency  and  dispatch;  but  he  permitted  himself  to  be 
influenced  in  judicial  decisions  by  the  wishes  of  the  court.  He  also 
made  two  fatal  mistakes.  The  first  of  these  was  to  receive  presents 
from  litigants,  and  the  second  was  to  use  his  power  to  oust  Coke 
from  office.  The  result  was  in  1620  a  parliamentary  prosecution, 
which  found  him  guilty  of  receiving  bribes  and  sentenced  him  to 
imprisonment  in  the  Tower  during  the  king's  pleasure,  to  a  fine  of 
forty  thousand  pounds,  and  to  loss  of  citizenship.  He  spent  the 
remaining  six  years  of  his  life  in  literary  pursuits. 

In  the  career  thus  briefly  outlined,  there  is  little  to  command  the 
respect  or  admiration  of  posterity;  indeed,  it  seems  amply  to  justify 
Pope's  famous  couplet, 

"  If  parts  allure  thee,  think  how  Bacon  shined, 
The  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of  mankind." 

But  when  we  turn  from  Bacon's  life  to  his  literary  and  philosophical 
works,  we  are  at  once  in  a  different  world.  From  his  boyhood  days 
his  chief  interest  had  been  in  intellectual  pursuits,  his  chief  ambition 
to  increase  the  sum  of  human  knowledge.  In  1591  he  had  written  to 
Burleigh  that  he  had  taken  all  knowledge  to  be  his  field.  The  first 
10 


146  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

published  fruits  of  his  genius  were  his  essays,  of  which  he  published 
ten  in  1597.  In  1612  he  issued  a  second  edition,  in  which  the  num- 
ber had  grown  to  thirty-eight,  and  in  1625  a  third,  which  contained 
fifty-eight.  These  compositions  are  in  reality  little  more  than  collec- 
tions of  notes  on  various  subjects,  often  thrown  together  without 
any  apparent  connection  or  arrangement.  There  had  been  nothing 
like  them  before  in  the  English  language  and  nothing,  indeed,  in  any 
language,  unless  we  except  the  French  essays  of  Montaigne.  They 
immediately  became  popular  and  have  continued  so  ever  since,  and 
with  good  reason,  for  they  are  among  the  weightiest  and  wisest  com- 
positions in  the  language.  The  student  who  wishes  to  get  a  taste 
of  their  quality  would  probably  do  best  to  begin  by  reading  the  essays 
on  Death,  Beauty,  Deformity,  Adversity,  and  Studies.  In  the  latter, 
Bacon  says  "  that  some  books  are  to  be  tasted,  others  to  be  swallowed, 
and  some  few  to  be  chewed  and  digested."  These  essays  belong  in 
the  third  class.  They  are  hard  reading;  but  once  mastered  they  are 
a  source  of  perennial  intellectual  power.  The  thing  about  them  which 
undoubtedly  will  most  strike  the  casual  reader  is  the  number  of  pro- 
verbial phrases  and  sentences  which  they  contain;  for  instance: 

"  God  Almighty  first  planned  a  garden,  and  indeed  it  is  the  purest 
of  human  pleasures."     Of  Gardens. 

"  Houses  are  built  to  live  in  and  not  to  look  on;  therefore  let  use 
be  preferred  before  uniformity,  except  where  both  may  be  had."  Of 
Building. 

"  No  pleasure  is  comparable  to  the  standing  upon  the  vantage 
ground  of  Truth."     Of  Truth. 

"  Men  fear  death  as  children  fear  to  go  into  the  dark."     Of  Death. 

"  Virtue  is,  like  precious  odors,  most  fragrant  when  they  are 
incensed  or  crushed."     Of  Adversity. 

"  Let  parents  choose  betimes  the  vocations  and  courses  their  chil- 
dren should  take."     Of  Parents  and  Children. 

"  When  a  man  should  marry?  A  young  man  not  yet,  an  elder 
man  not  at  all."     Of  Marriage  and  Single  Life. 

"  Money  is  like  muck,  not  good  except  it  be  spread."  Of  Seditions 
and  Troubles. 

"  A  little  philosophy  inclineth  man's  mind  to  Atheism,  but  depth 


FRANCIS  BACON  147 

in  philosophy  bringeth  men's  minds  about  to  religion."     Of  Atheism. 

"  I  knew  a  wise  man  that  had  it  for  a  byword  when  he  saw  men 
hasten  to  a  conclusion,  '  Stay  a  little  that  we  may  make  an  end  the 
sooner.'  "     Of  Dispatch. 

"  There  is  no  man  who  imparteth  his  joys  to  his  friend,  but  he 
joyeth  the  more;  and  no  man  that  imparteth  his  grief  to  his  friend, 
but  that  he  grieveth  the  less."     Of  Friendship. 

"  Discretion  of  speech  is  more  than  eloquence."     Of  Discourse. 

"  It  breeds  great  perfection  if  the  practice  be  harder  than  the  use." 
Of  Nature  and  Men. 

Bacon's  fame,  however,  rests  upon  a  more  solid  foundation  than  his 
essays.  It  rests  upon  a  great  but  unfinished  work,  the  "  Instauratio 
Scientiarum,"  which  he  designs  to  be  a  review  and  encyclopaedia  of  all 
knowledge.  In  1605  he  published  "  The  Advancement  of  Learning," 
which,  afterwards  revised  and  translated  into  Latin  under  the  title 
"  De  Augmentis  Scientiarum,"  constitutes  the  first  part  of  this  work. 
In  it  he  discusses  the  excellence  of  knowledge,  the  means  of  disseminat- 
ing it,  and  its  three  branches,  which  are  history,  poetry,  and  philoso- 
phy, which  correspond  to  the  three  parts  of  man's  understanding,  the 
memory,  the  imagination,  and  the  reason.  The  "  Novum  Organum," 
or  "  New  Method,"  constitutes  the  second  part  of  the  "  Instauratio." 
In  this  work,  which  was  published  in  1620,  after  being  thirty  years 
in  preparation.  Bacon  undertakes  to  set  forth  a  method  of  study  which 
shall  add  effectively  and  fruitfully  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge. 
The  method  generally  used  by  scholars  up  to  his  time  was  what  is 
known  as  the  deductive  method  of  Aristotle,  which  amounted  to  this, 
that,  starting  from  a  general  proposition,  the  investigator  proceeded 
to  draw  from  it  by  the  rules  of  logic  such  conclusions  as  he  could 
concerning  specific  facts  or  phenomena.  In  other  words,  he  began 
with  the  general  and  ended  with  the  particular.  This  method,  not 
being  based  upon  accurate  observation  of  facts,  had  during  the  two 
thousand  years  intervening  between  Aristotle  and  Bacon  produced 
no  really  practical  results.  Bacon  proposed  to  reverse  it.  He  pro- 
posed to  begin  with  the  accumulation  and  analysis  of  individual-  fac'!s 
and  to  proceed  from  them  to  general  principles.  The  student  should 
not  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  Bacon  invented  this  sort  of 


148  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

reasoning,  which  is  called  induction;  he  did  nothing  of  the  sort. 
He  did,  however,  show  mankind  convincingly  and  eloquently  that 
induction  and  not  deduction  would  produce  what  he  called  fruit. 
Macaulay  writes  as  follows  of  the  value  to  the  world  of  the  methods 
laid  down  in  the  "Novum  Organum  ": 

"  It  has  lengthened  Ufe;  it  has  mitigated  pain;  it  has  extinguished 
diseases;  it  has  increased  the  fertility  of  the  soil;  it  has  given  new 
securities  to  the  mariner;  it  has  furnished  new  arms  to  the  warrior; 
it  has  spanned  great  rivers  and  estuaries  with  bridges  of  form  unknown 
to  our  fathers;  it  has  guided  the  thunderbolt  innocuously  from  heaven 
to  earth;  it  has  lighted  up  the  night  with  the  splendor  of  the  day; 
it  has  extended  the  range  of  the  h-iman  vision;  it  has  multiplied  the 
power  of  the  human  muscles;  it  has  accelerated  motion;  it  has  annihi- 
lated distance;  it  has  facilitated  intercourse,  correspondence,  all 
friendly  offices,  all  despatch  of  business;  it  has  enabled  man  to 
descend  to  the  depths  of  the  sea,  to  soar  into  the  air,  to  penetrate 
securely  into  the  noxious  recesses  of  the  earth,  to  traverse  the  land  in 
cars  which  whirl  along  without  horses,  and  the  ocean  in  ships  which 
run  ten  knots  an  hour  against  the  wind.  These  are  but  a  part  of  its 
fruits,  and  of  its  first  fruits.  For  it  is  a  philosophy  which  never 
rests,  which  has  never  attained,  which  is  never  perfect.  Its  law  is 
progress.  A  point  which  yesterday  was  invisible  is  its  goal  to-day 
and  will  be  its  starting-post  to-morrow." 

One  critic  condemns  the  essay  from  which  this  passage  was  taken 
as  an  elaborate  libel  on  Lord  Bacon;  another  censures  it  as  equally 
unfounded  praise  and  glorification.  It  is  perhaps  reasonable  therefore 
to  assume  that  Macaulay  is  not  very  far  from  the  truth. 

Among  Bacon's  other  works  are  a  few  poems,  a  philosophical 
romance  called  the  "  New  Atlantis,"  a  "  History  of  Henry  VII,"  and 
a  collection  of  anecdotes  and  witticisms.  The  poems  are  important 
chiefly  because  they  prove  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  to  anybody 
with  the  faintest  tincture  of  literary  taste  that  Bacon  could  not  have 
written  Shakespeare's  plays.  The  "  New  Atlantis  "  belongs  in  the 
same  class  with  Sir  Thomas  More's  "  Utopia  "  and  Ignatius  Donnelly's 
"  Atlantis,"  being  an  attempt  to  describe  an  ideal  state,  which  is 
located  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.    The  "  History  of  Henry  VII  " 


I 


FRANCIS  BACON  149 

has  some  slight  claim  to  historical  merit.  Of  the  apothegms  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  said:  "  They  are  the  one  part  of  Bacon's  works  which 
are  not  worth  reading."  Even  among  them,  however,  we  find  such 
weighty  and  entertaining  observations  as  the  following: 

"  My  Lord  St.  Albans  said  that  nature  did  never  put  her  precious 
jewels  into  a  garret  four  stories  high,  and,  therefore,  that  exceeding 
tall  men  had  ever  very  empty  heads."     No.  17. 

"  Like  the  strawberry  wives,  that  laid  two  or  three  great  straw- 
berries at  the  mouth  of  their  pot  and  all  the  rest  were  .little  ones." 
No.  54. 

"  Cosmus,  Duke  of  Florence,  was  wont  to  say  of  perfidious  friends 
that  we  read  that  we  should  forgive  our  enemies;  but  we  do  not  read 
that  we  should  forgive  our  friends."     No.  206. 

"  Cato  said  the  best  way  to  keep  good  acts  in  memory  is  to  refresh 
them  with  new."     No.  247. 

Bacon's  life  ended  in  a  fashion  that  was  not  out  of  harmony  with 
the  great  purpose  of  his  life.  While  he  was  driving  in  his  coach  on  a 
winter  day  it  occurred  to  him  that  cold  might  be  as  good  a  preserva- 
tive of  food  as  salt.  He  therefore  stopped  at  a  farmhouse  and  bought 
a  fowl,  which  he  stuffed  with  snow  with  his  own  hands.  As  a  conse- 
quence, he  contracted  a  cold  from  which  he  did  not  recover.  He  died 
April  9,  1626,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Michael's  Church  in  St.  Albans. 
In  the  last  letter  which  he  wrote  he  compared  himself  to  the  elder 
Pliriy,  who  lost  his  life  by  trying  an  experiment  in  connection  with 
the  burning  of  Mt.'  Vesuvius,  and  recorded  the  fact  that  his  own 
experiment  had  succeeded  excellently. 

Alexander  Pope's  statement,  already  quoted,  that  Bacon  was  the 
"  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of  mankind,"  is  not  true.  H^jj^as  not 
the  wisest,  because,  lacking  moral  stamina,  he  stepped  aside  from  his 
high  literary  calling  into  the  intrigue  and  meanness  of  court  life,  ruin- 
ing by  the  division  of  his  energy  between  earthly  ambition  and  the 
honorable  desire  for  fame  a  career  which  might  have  been  one  of  the 
noblest  in  the  annals  of  literature.  He  was  not  the  brightest,  for  he 
lived  in  the  age  of  Shakespeare;  and  h'e  was  not  the  meanest,  for  in 
spite  of  all  his  defects  of  character,  he  left  a  legacy  which  will  con- 
tinue to  increase  in  value  as  long  as  civilization  continues  to  advance. 


150  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Give  an  outline  of  Bacon's  public  life. 

2.  "  Reading  maketh  a  full  man,"  wrote  Bacon  in  an  essay.     What  do  you 

consider  the  meaning  of  this  statement? 

3.  What  is  the  difference  between  the  inductive  and  the  deductive  methods 

of  reasoning. 

4.  Give  an  example  of  the  results  obtained  by  the  inductive  method. 

5.  Count  the  number  of  words  in  one  of  Bacon's  essays.     Read  the  essay ; 

close  the  book ;  rewrite  the  essay  in  your  own  words,  and  find  how 
much  of  Bacon's  thought  you  are  able  to  express  with  an  equal  num- 
ber of  words. 

6.  Bacon  says:  "Some  books  are  to  be  tasted,  others  to  be  swallowed, 

and  some  few  to  be  chewed  and  digested."  Name  three  books  of 
each  class. 

7.  Name  a  half-dozen  contemporaries  of  Bacon. 

8.  Compare  the  points  of  view  of  Spenser  and  Bacon. 

9.  Do  you  believe  Bacon  could  have  written  Shakespeare  ? 
10.  Does  Bacon  stand  highest  as  man,  scientist,  or  essayist? 

Suggested  Readings. — Obtain  a  volume  of  Bacon's  essays  and  read 
into  it.  You  will  find  food  for  thought  and  sharp  stimulus.  The  essays 
entitled  "Of  Studies,"  "Of  Revenge,"  "Of  Gardens,"  and  "Of  Beauty" 
are  especially  recommended.  "  Bacon,"  by  Dean  R.  W.  Church,  in  the 
"  English  Men  of  Letters  Series,"  is  a  good  biography.  Macaulay's  "  Essay 
on  Bacon  "  is  magnificent. 


I 


CHAPTER  XII 

OTHER  ELIZABETHAN   AND   JACOBEAN   WRITERS 

(1559-1625) 

"  Then  to  the  well-trod  stage  anon, 
If  Jonson's   learned   sock  be  on."— Milton. 

"  Tlie  mosaic  brain  of  old  Burton." — Carlyle. 

"  Excellent  Beaumont,  in  the  foremost  rank 
Of   the   rar'st   wits  !  " — Hcywood. 

Queen  Elizabeth  reigned  1559-1603,  her  successor,  James  I, 
1603-1625.  The  awakened  feeling  of  national  power  which  marked 
this  period,  as  we  have  already  seen,  produced  a  brilliant  summer  time 
of  literature.  It  was  so  fruitful,  indeed,  that  the  spacious  times  of 
great  Elizabeth  are  often  called  the  golden  age  of  English  literature. 
It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  great  names  of  Spenser, 
Bacon,  and  Shakespeare  exhaust  its  titles  to  distinction.  A  host  of 
excellent  minor  writers  also  flourished  during  this  period.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  to  sketch  briefly  a  few  of  these. 

The  chief  glory  of  the  age  is  the  drama.  No  other  nation  can 
boast  such  an  output  of  good  plays  as  were  written  in  England  at 
this  time.  Save  those  of  Shakespeare,  however,  these  productions  are 
not  calculated  to  interest  beginners  in  literature.  A  few  brief  notes 
on  the  most  important  authors  and  plays  will  therefore  suffice: 

George  Chapman  M  55Q-1 634 'i  was  a  copious  dramatist.  Among 
his  best  plays  are  "  All  Fools,  "  Bussy  d'Ambois,"  and  "  Eastward 
Ho."  The  latter,  written  in  conjunction  with  Ben  Jonson  and  Mar- 
ston,  contained  allusions  to  the  Scotch  which  got  the  authors  into  jail, 
because  they  enraged  Jimes  I,  who  was  the  son  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots.  Here  is  one  of  the  offending  passages:  "  Only  a  few  indus- 
trious Scots  perhaps,  who  indeed  are  dispersed  over  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth.  But  as  for  them,  there  are  no  greater  friends  to  English- 
men and  England,  when  they  are  out  on't,  in  the  world,  than  they  are. 
And  for  my  own  part,  I  would  a  hundred  thousand  of  them  wero 
there  (Virginia) ;  for  we  are  all  one  country  now,  ye  know,  and  we 

151 


152  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

should  find  ten  times  more  comfort  of  them  there  than  we  do  here." 
Chapman's  greatest  achievement  was  his  translation  of  the  "  Iliad  " 
and  "  Od3^ssey,"  which  in  poetical  vigor  and  beauty  is  perhaps  nearer 
to  the  originals  than  any  other  English  version.  No  bard  has  ever 
been  more  splendidly  eulogized  by  a  brother  bard  than  Chapman  in 
the  following  sonnet  by  John  Keats: 

"  Much  have  I  travelled  in  the  realms  of  gold. 

And  many  goodly  states  and  kingdoms  seen; 
Round  many  v^festern  islands  have  I  been, 
Which  bards  in  fealty  to  Apollo  hold 
Oft  of  one  wide  expanse  had  I  been  told 

That  deep-browed  Homer  ruled  as  his  demesne, 

Yet  never  did  I  breathe  its  pure  serene 
Till  I  heard  Chapman  speak  out  loud  and  bold. 

Then  felt  I  like  some  watcher  of  the  skies 
When  a  new  planet  swims  into  his  ken, 

Or  like  stout  Cortez  when  with  eagle  eyes 
He  gazed  at  the  Pacific,  and  all  his  men 

Looked  at  each  other  with  a  wild  surmise. 
Silent,  upon  a  peak  in  Darien." 

Chapman  is  also  the  author  of  this  sentence:  "Young  men  think 
old  men  are  fools,  but  old  men  know  young  men  are  fools." 

^Ben  Jonson  (_1 5 73-163 7),  after  Shakespeare  and  Marlowe  the 
most  conspicuous  dramatist  of  this  period,  was  early  left  an  orphan, 
was  compelled  to  leave  school,  for  a  while  worked  as  a  bricklayer,  as 
a  soldier  in  Flanders  killed  one  of  the  enemy  in  single  combat,  failed 
as  an  actor,  and  killed  a  fellow  performer  in  a  duel.  His  career  as  a 
playwright  began  1596  with  the  production  of  "  Every  Man  in  his 
Humour,"  with  Shakespeare  as  one  of  the  actors.  His  best  tragedies 
are  two  classical  pieces,  "  Sejanus  "  and  "  Catiline,"  and  his  best 
comedies  "  Volpone,  or  the  Fox  ";  "  Epicoene,  or  the  Silent  Woman  "; 
and  "  The  Alchemist."  Coleridge  says  that  the  plot  of  the  last  is  one 
of  the  three  best  in  literature,  the  others  being  those  of  Sophocles's 
"  GEdipus  the  King  "  and  Fielding's  "  Tom  Jones."  He  also  wrote  a 
pastoral  play  called  "  The  Sad  Shepherd,"  which  in  poetic  charm 
belongs  in  the  same  class  with  "  The  Faithful  Shepherdess  "  of 
Fletcher  and  even  challenges  comparison  ^\^th  Milton's  "  Comus." 
Like  his  great  namesake,  Samuel  Johnson,  Ben's  literary  reputation, 
his  love  of  companionship,  and  his  colloquial  powers  made  him  a 


ELIZABETHAN  AND  JACOBEAN  WRITERS 


153 


literary  dictator.  At  the  Mermaid  Club,  founded  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  he  met  Shakespeare,  Beaumont,  and  Fletcher  in  wit-combats 
of  which  Fuller  says:  "  Many  were  the  wit-combats  betwixt  Shake- 
speare and  Ben  Jonson,  which  two  I  behold  like  a  Spanish  great  gal- 


BEN  JONSON 

1573— 1037 
From  the  portrait  by  Gerard  Honthorst 

leon  and  an  English  man-of-war:  Master  Jonson,  like  the  former,  was 
built  far  higher  in  learning;  solid,  but  slow  in  his  performances. 
Shakespeare,  with  the  English  man-of-war,  lesser  in  bulk,  but  lighter 
in  sailing,  could  turn  with  all  tides,  tack  about  and  take  advantage 
of  all  winds,  by  the  quickness  of  his  wit  and  inventions."     Jonson's 


154  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

admiration  of  Shakespeare's  genius  has  already  been  described.     One 

of  his  younger  associates,  Herrick,  has  also  left  a  memorial  of  the 

literary  meetings  in  which  Jonson  led: 

"  Ah  Ben ! 
Say  how  or  when 
Shall  we,  thy  guests, 
Meet  at  those  lyrick  feasts 
Made  at  the  Sun, 
The  Dog,  the  Triple  Tunne? 
Where  we  such  clusters  had 
As  made  us  nobly  wild,  not  mad; 
And  yet  each  verse  of  thine 
Outdid  the  meate,  outdid  the  frolick  wine. 

Jonson's  later  days  were  dark  and  painful.  The  simple  slab  which 
marks  his  grave  in  Westminster  Abbey  bears  only  three  words,  but 
they  speak  volumes;  they  are  ".0  Rare  Ben  Jonson."  Of  his  numer- 
ous songs,  the  best  is  "  To  Celia,"  which,  set  to  exquisite  music  by 
Mozart,  is,  thanks  to  the  phonograph,  familiar  to  millions  of  people 

to-day : 

"  Drink  to  me  only  with  thine  eyes 
And  I  will  pledge  with  mine. 
Or  leave  a  kiss  but  in  the  cup 
And  I'll  not  look  for  wine. 
The  thirst  that  from  the  soul  doth  rise, 

Doth  ask  a  drink  divine; 
But  might  I  of  Jove's  nectar  sup, 
I  would  not  change  for  thine. 

"  I  sent  thee  late  a  rosy  wreath, 

Not  so  much  honoring  thee, 
As  giving  it  a  hope  that  there 

It  could  not  withered  be, 
But  thou  thereon  didst  only  breathe. 

And  sent'st  it  back  to  me ; 
Since  when  it  grows  and  smells,  I  swear, 

Not  of  itself,  but  thee." 

Thomas  Dekker  (1570-1637)  spent  a  considerable  portion  of  his 
life  in  jaillor  debt,  quarrelled  with  Ben  Jonson,  and  wrote  several 
good  plays,  among  them  being  "  The  Shoemaker's  Holiday,"  "  Old 
Fortunatus,"  and  "  Satiromastix."  He  collaborated  with  Webster  in 
"  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,"  "  Westward  Ho,"  and  "  Northward  Ho  "; 
with  Middleton  in  "The  Roaring  Girl";  and  with  Ford  in  "The 
Witch  of  Edmonton."  Charles  Lamb  says  Dekker  has  poetry  enough 
for  anything,  and  Swinburne  that  his  wood-notes  remind  him  of 


ELIZABETHAN  AND  JACOBEAN  WRITERS        155 

Shakespeare.     He  certainly  knew  how  to  add  to  golden  numbers 

golden  numbers,  as  this  stanza  demonstrates: 

"  Art  thou  poor,  yet  hast  thou  golden  slumbers? 
O   sweet   Content ! 
Art  thou  rich,  yet  is  thy  mind  perplexed? 

O   Punishment ! 
Dost  laugh  to  see  how  fools  are  vexed 
To  add  to  golden  numbers  golden  numbers? 
O  sweet  Content,  O  sweet,  O  sweet  Content." 

Those  who  argue  that  Bacon  wrote  Shakespeare  because  we  know 
so  little  of  the  latter's  life  might  argue  with  even  more  plausibility 
that  Bacon  wrote  John  Webster's  "  White  Devil,"  "  Appius  and  Vir- 
ginia," "  The  Devil's  Law  Case,"  and  ''  The  Duchess  of  Malfi."  Even 
the  dates  of  his  birth  and  death  are  unknown.  His  plays  are  all 
somber  tragedies  wherein  the  reader  sups  full  on  horrors.  Edmund 
Gosse  says  that  "  The  Duchess  of  Malfi  "  is  unquestionably  the  most 
elevated  tragic  poem  in  the  language  not  written  by  the  pen  of 
Shakespeare. 

"  The  Revenger's  Tragedy  "  and  "  The  Atheist's  Tragedy  "  by 
Cyril  Tourneur  (J.  5 7 5-1 62 6)  are  two  ftf  the  most  revolting  plays  in 
hterature.  Charles  Lamb  could  never  read  the  former  but  his  ears 
tingled. 

Thomas  Hey^wpAd  (1575-1641)  was  an  actor  and  a  voluminous 
playwright.  Lamb  called  him  a  sort  of  prose  Shakespeare  without  the 
poetry.  He  at  least  had  one  trait  which  is  found  in  Shakespeare  and 
is  lacking  in  Jonson,  Webster,  Tourneur,  Beaumont,  and  Fletcher— 
an  instinctive  perception  of  nobility.  Among  his  best  plays  are  "  A 
Woman  Killed  with  Kindness,"  "  The  Fair  Maid  of  the  West,"  "  The 
English  Traveller,"  "  The  Wise  Woman  of  Hogsdon,"  and  "  Edward 
IV."    Some  of  his  verses  have  a  fine  swing.    For  example: 

"  Pack,  clouds,  away,  and  welcome  day ; 
With  night  we  banish  sorrow ; 
Sweet  air,  blow  soft ;  mount,  lark,  aloft, 
To  give  my  love  good  morrow." 

Thomas  MiddletorL. (1570-1627)  perhaps  had  a  hand  in  the  com- 
position of  "  Macbeth."  He  certainly  collaborated  with  Dekker,  Row- 
ley, and  Massinger.  Of  his  own  plays  one  critic  says:  "  If  '  The 
Changeling,'  '  Women  beware  Women,'  '  The  Spanish  Gypsy,'  and 


156  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

'  A  Fair  Quarrel  '  do  not  justify  Widdleton's  claim  to  be  considered 
a  great  artist,  I  know  not  which  of  Shakespeare's  followers  is  worthy 
of  the  title." 

John  MatstQru(  1575-1634)  wrote  several  plays  full  of  rough 
satire.  With  Jonson  and  Chapman  he  was  imprisoned,  it  will  be 
remembered,  for  some  caustic  allusions  in  "  Eastward  Ho  "  to  the 
Scotch.  Among  his  plays  are  "  Sophonisba,"  "  The  Malcontent," 
and  "  Wliat  You  Will." 

Philip_Massinger  ( 1 583-1640) ,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and 
eloquent  dramatists  oT  his  time,  lived  in  poverty,  died  a  pauper,  and 
was  buried  at  St.  Saviour's  Church,  Southwark,  with  no  memorial 
except  this  note  in  the  parish  register,  "  Philip  Massinger,  a  stranger." 
Like  other  dramatists,  he  was  often  in  jail  for  debt.  Fifteen  of  his 
plays  have  been  preserved;  the  manuscripts  of  eight  others  were 
burned  by  an  ignorant  domestic  about  1750  for  kitchen  uses.  Cole- 
ridge says  that  some  of  his  plays  are  as  interesting  as  a  novel,  others 
as  solid  as  a  treatise  on  political  philosophy.  The  best  are  "  The 
Virgin  Martyr  "  and  "  A  New  W'ay  to  Pay  Old  Debts."  The  character 
of  Sir  Giles  Overreach,  in  the  latter,  is  'such  a  masterpiece  that  the 
play  held  the  stage  well  into  the  nineteenth  century.  To  Hallam, 
Massinger's  tragedies  seemed  second  only  to  Shakespeare's.  They 
also  made  such  an  impression  on  Charles  James  Fox  when  he  first  read 
them  that  for  several  days  he  could  talk  of  nothing  else.  Lamb  said 
his  English  is  purer  than  that  of  any  other  contemporary  dramatist. 

The  most  noteworthy  partnership  in  English  letters  is  that  of 
Francis  Beaumont  (1584-1616)  and  John  Fktchgj:  (1579-1625). 
The  collaboration  oi  the  other  dramatists  of  their  day  was  generally 
brief  and  incidental.  Theirs  lasted  ten  years,  during  which  they  lived 
together,  both  being  bachelors,  sat  on  the  same  bench,  shared  their 
clothes,  and  wrote  a  series  of  passionate,  romantic,  and  comic  plays 
with  such  perfect  cooperation  that  their  fame  has  ever  since  been 
perfectly  blended.  Aubrey,  a  contemporary  writer,  says  that  Beau- 
mont's task  was  to  correct  the  exuberance  of  Fletcher's  genius.  They 
were  imitators  but  not  slavish  imitators  of  Shakespeare.  Next  after 
Marlowe,  Jonson,  and  Shakespeare,  they  are  probably  the  best  play- 
wrights of  their  age.    Dr^^den  thought  that  they  drew  the  characters 


ELIZABETHAN  AND  JACOBEAN  WRITERS  157 

of  gentlemen  better  than  did  Shakespeare,  and  says  that  in  his  day 
(1632-1700)  two  of  their  plays  were  acted  for  one  of  his.  The 
following  table  shows,  so  far  as  it  is  known  or  guessed,  the  authorship 
of  the  most  important  plays  in  which  they  had  a  share: 

I.  By  Beaumont  and  Fletcher: 
"  Four  Plays  in  One  "  "  A  King  and  no  King  " 

"  Thierry  and  Theodoret  "  "  Laws  of  Candy  " 

"The  Maid's  Tragedy"  '' '^  Pest^e"'^^'    °^    '^'    ^^""^ 

"  Philaster  "    ---  u  j^^  Scornful  Lady." 

XL  By  Fletcher  and  Shakespeare: 
"  The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen." 

III.  By  Fletcher  alone: 
"  The  Faithful  Shepherdess  "  "  Bonduca  " 

"  The  False  One  "  "  Wit  without  Money." 

Of  these  the  best  are  "  Philaster,"  "  The  Maid's  Tragedy,"  "  The 
Two  Noble  Kinsmen,"  and  "  The  Faithful  Shepherdess.  Critics  be- 
lieve that,  on  the  whole,  Beaumont  had  the  deeper  genius,  Fletcher 
the  gayer. 

William  Rowlex^(  1585-1 642)  collaborated  with  Middleton,  Dek- 
ker,  Heywood,  Webster,  Massinger,  and  Ford,  and  ^Vte  several  plays 
of  his  own.     His  work  is  rough  but  rich  in  humor .^ 

John  Ford  (1586-1656)  was  the  last  great  tragic  writer  of  this 
period.  His  best  plays,  "  'T  is  Pity,"  ''  The  Broken  Heart,"  and 
"  Love's  Sacrifice,"  unlike  most  contemporary  dramas,  observe  the 
unities  of  time,  place,  and  action. 

The  great  series  of  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  dramatists  that 
began  with  Christopher  Marlowe  closed  with  James  Shirley  (1596- 
1666).  Between  50  and  60  of  his  plays  have  come  down  to  us.  In 
them  there  is  some  of  the  grace,  melody,  and  fancy  that  characterized 
the  great  Elizabethans,  but  their  power  is  gone. 

Between  1642  and  1660  there  were  no  theaters  in  England.  In 
the  former  year  parliament  rebelled  against  the  king,  and  civil  war 
broke  out.  The  complete  triumph  of  parliament  gave  the  Puritans 
supreme  power.     Their  intolerance  of  all  worldly  things  is  happi'y 


158  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

hit  off  in  the  following  verse  by  Richard  Brathwaite  (1588-1673): 

"  To  Banbury  came  I,  O  profane  one, 
Where  I  met  a  puritane  one 
Hanging  of  his  cat  on  Monday 
For  kilhng  of  a  mouse  on  Sunday." 

The  hatred  of  men  imbued  with  this  spirit  for  an  institution  as  corrupt 
as  the  theater  had  then  become  can  be  imagined.  The  playhouses 
were  closed  and  did  not  reopen  until  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy 
in  1660. 

Aside  from  the  drama,  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  were 
distinguished  by  an  unusual  number  of  vigorous  writers  both  in  prose 
and  verse.  Of  these  the  most  interesting  are  mentioned  in  the  follow- 
ing notes,  which  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  dates  of  their  births. 

Sir  John  Harrington  (1561-1612)  wrote  a  translation  of  Ariosto's 

"  Orlando  Furioso  "  and  a  "  Book  of  Epigrams."    The  best  of  the 

latter  is: 

"Treason  doth  never  prosper:  what's  the  reason? 
For  if   it   prosper,   none   dare   call   it   treason." 

Sir  Henry  Wotton   (1568-1639)   was  the  author  of  the  justly 

famous  poem,  "  The  Character  of  a  Happy  Life,"  wBich  begins: 

-"  How  happy  is  he  born  or  taught 
That  serveth  not  another's  will. 
Whose  armour  is  his  honest  thought, 
And  simple  truth  his  utmost  skill." 

He  was  a  wit.    Among  his  sayings  were  these:  "  An  ambassador  is  an 

honest  man  sent  to  lie  abroad  for  the  commonwealth  "  and  "  Hanging 

was  the  worst  use  a  man  could  be  put  to."    He  was  one  of  the  first 

to  recognize  Milton's  poetic  genius;  and,  when  the  young  Puritan  poet 

was  setting  out  for  Italy,  he  gave  him  the  sound  advice  "  to  keep  his 

thoughts  close  and  his  countenance  loOse." 

Sir  John  Davies  (1570-1626)  wrote  a  famous  poem  on  dancing. 

He  is  chiefly  remembered,  however,  for  this  quatrain: 

"  Wedlock,  indeed,  hath  oft  compared  been 
To  public  feasts,  where  meet  a  public  rout, 
Where  those  that  are  without  would  fain  go  in 
And   those-that   are  within   would   fain  go  out." 

Sir  Robert  Carey  (1560-1639)  wrote  the  first  autobiography  in 

English.     In  1589  he  won  2000  pounds  on  a  wager  by  walking  from 


I 


ELIZABETHAN  AND  JACOBEAN  WRITERS        159 

London  to  Berwick,  342  miles,  in  twelve  days;  in  1603  he  rode  from 
London  to  Edinburgh  in  sixty  hours  to  announce  the  death  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  to  her  successor,  James  VI  of  Scotland  and  I  of  England. 

Gervase  Markham  (1568-1637)  in  1595  published  a  poem  on 
the  same  fight  which  Tennyson's  "  Revenge  "  has  made  so  familiar  to 
modern  readers. 

Richard  Barnfeld  (1574-1627)  was  probably  the  author  of  the 
ode,  "  As  it  fell  upon  a  day,"  and  the  sonnet,  "  If  Musique  and  sweet 
Poetrie  agree,'  though  both  are  sometimes  printed  as  Shakespeare's. 

Dr.  John  Donne  ( 1 5  73-1 63 1 )  is  known  as  the  metaphysical  poet. 
His  verses,  thbngh  often  harsh  and  full  of  strange  conceits,  contain 
great  beauties.  He  had  considerable  influence  on  Dryden,  Pope,  and 
Browning.  His  chief  works  are  "  Divine  Poems,"  "  Elegies,"  and 
"  Satires." 

"  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  by  Robert  Burton  (1577-1639), 
was  the  only  book  that  ever  took  Samuel  Johnson  out  of  bed  two  hours 
before  he  wished  to  rise.  Byron  said  of  it:  "  The  book  in  my  opinion 
most  useful  to  a  man  who  wishes  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  being 
well  read,  with  the  least  trouble,  is  Burton's '  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,' 
the  most  amusing  and  instructive  medley  of  quotations  and  classical 
anecdotes  I  ever  perused."    Here  are  a  few  of  Burton's  sentences: 

"  I  say  with  Didacus  Stella,  a  dwarf  standing  on  the  shoulders  of 
a  giant  may  see  farther  than  a  giant  himself." 

"  Aristotle  said  melancholy  men  are  of  all  others  the  most  witty." 

"  All  places  are  distant  from  heaven  alike." 

"  The  commonwealth  of  Venice  in  their  armoury  have  this  inscrip- 
tion: '  Happy  is  that  city  which  in  time  of  peace  thinks  of  war.'  " 

"  Diogenes  struck  the  father  when  the  son  swore." 

"  Isocrates  adviseth  Demonicus,  when  he  came  to  a  strange  city, 
to  worship  by  all  means  the  gods  of  the  place." 

George  Sandys  (1578-1644)  wrote  a  book  of  travels  in  Egypt, 
Turkey,  and  Palestine,  which  ran  through  seven  editions  between  1615 
and  1673.  To  Americans  he  is  chiefly  interesting  from  the  fact  that 
he  lived  in  Virginia  1621-1631  and  there  completed  a  bad  but  for  a 
time  popular  translation  of  Ovid. 

Thomas  Coryate  (1577-1617)  was  also  a  traveller.  In  his  "  Crudi- 


160  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

y' 

ties  "  there  are  many  passages  of  both  historical  and  modern  interest. 

For  instance,  in  Italy  he  discovered  forks,  which  apparently  he  had 
not  seen  before,  and  of  which  he  says:  "  The  Italian  cannot  by  any 
means  endure  to  have  his  dish  touched  with  fingers,  seeing  all  men's 
fingers  are  not  alike  clean.  Hereupon  I  myself  thought  good  to  imi- 
tate the  Italian  fashion."  His  remarks  on  fried  frogs,  on  women  as 
actresses,  and  on  feather  beds,  all  of  which  were  discovered  by  him  on 
his  travels,  are  interesting.  He  also  instructed  his  countrymen  in  the 
Italian  pronunciation  of  Latin  which  is  now  used  in  all  American 
schools  but  has  not  yet  been  adopted  in  conservative  England. 

George ^HerbertJ^l 593-1533),  a  country  parson  known  as  "  holy 
GebrgE  Heroert,"  wrote  many  short  sacred  poems.  Two  of  these, 
"  The  Pulley  "  and  "  Vertue,"  every  student  of  English  might  well 
learn  by  heart.     "  Vertue  "  is  as  follows: 

"  Sweet  day,  so  cool,  so  calm,  so  bright, 
The  bridal  of  the  earth  and  sky. 
The  dews  shall  weep  thy  fall  to-night, 
For  thou  must  die. 

"  Sweet  rose,  whose  hue,  angry  and  brave, 
Bids  the  rash  gazer  wipe  his  eye, 
Thy  root  is  ever  in  the  grave, 
And  thou  must  die. 

"  Sweet  spring,  full  of  sweet  days  and  roses, 
A  box  where  sweets  compacted  lie, 
Thy  music  shows  ye  have  your  closes, 
And  all  must  die." 

"Only   a  pure   and   vertuous   soul. 
Like  seasoned  timber,  never  gives ; 
But,  though  the  whole  world  would  turn  to  coal. 
Then   chiefly   lives." 

George  Wither  (1588-1667)  was  another  real  poet.  Being  taken 
prisoner  during  the  civil  war  by  the  Royalists,  he  was  saved  from 
hanging  by  the  intervention  of  Denham,  who  told  the  authorities 
that,  as  long  as  Wither  lived,  he  (Denham)  would  not  be  considered 
the  worst  poet  in  England.  Wither  afterward  rose  to  the  rank  of 
major-general  in  Cromwell's  army.  His  best  known  poem,  the 
"  Author's  Resolution,"  begins  thus: 

"  Shall   I,  wasting  with  despair, 
Die  because  a  woman's  fair, 


ELIZABETHAN  AND  JACOBEAN  WRITERS        161 

Or  make  pale  my  cheeks  with  care 
Cause  another's  rosy  are? 
Be  she  fairer  than  the  day 
Or  the  flowery  meads  in  May, 
If  she  think  not  well  of  me, 
What  care  I  how  fair  she  be?" 

Francis  Rous  (1579-1659),  who  divides  with  King  David  the 
honor  of  being  the  sweet  psalmist  of  Scotland,  was  a  Cornishman. 

The  greatest  literary  achievement  of  the  age  remains  to  be  noticed. 
The  King  James  Version  of  the  Bible,  which  appeared  1611,  is  prob- 
ably the  best  translation  ever  made  in  any  language.  The  great  orig- 
inal Hebrew  and  Greek  books;  the  aid  in  style  which  the  translators 
found  in  the  Latin  Vulgate;  the  pioneer  work  done  by  Wickliffe,  Tyn- 
dale,  and  Coverdale;  and  the  fact  that  the  translators,  themselves 
men  of  great  literary  faculty,  worked  in  the  midst  of  the  most  note- 
worthy ferment  in  all  literature — all  these  forces  produced  a  match- 
less result.  A  volume  is  compressed  into  the  line,  "  And  God  said, 
'  Let  there  be  light,'  and  there  was  light  ";  a  page  into  the  two  words, 
"  Jesus  wept."  Beside  the  splendor  of  the  Psalms,  of  the  Book 
of  Job,  of  The  Prophets,  and  of  The  Apocrypha,  the  odes  of 
"  Sappho  "  and  "  Pindar  "  seem  tame  and  absurd.  Even  Shakespeare's 
prose  is  not  impressive  in  comparison  with  the  vigor  of  the  English 
Bible.  No  other  book  has  so  penetrated  the  hearts  and  speech  of  the 
English  race.  Huxley  calls  it  the  national  epic  of  Britain.  Coleridge 
says:  "  After  reading  Isaiah,  or  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
'  Homer  '  and  '  Virgil '  are  disgustingly  tame  to  me."  Milton's  opinion 
was  that  there  are  no  songs  to  be  compared  with  the  songs  of  Zion,  no 
orations  equal  to  those  of  the  prophets.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  on  his  death- 
bed, asked  Lockhart  to  read  to  him.  When  asked  from  what  book,  he 
replied:  "  Need  you  ask?  There  is  but  one."  Wordsworth  called  the 
Scriptures  the  grand  storehouses  of  imagination.  Ruskin  counted 
the  fact  that  his  mother  made  him  learn  by  heart  certain  portions  of 
the  Bible  the  one  essential  part  of  his  education.  Among  others  who 
have  expressed  similar  opinions  are  Carlyle,  Newman,  Macaulay, 
Froude,  and  Swift.  The  Bible  was  the  chief  model  of  Bunyan  in  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  of  Andrew  Lang  in  his  wonderful  prose  versions  of 
the  "  Iliad  "  and  "  Odyssey,"  of  Walt  Whitman,  and  of  the  greatest 
11 


162  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

speeches  made  in  the  nineteenth  century — those  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
("oleridge  indeed  says  that  intense  study  of  the  Bible  will  keep  any 
writer  from  being  vulgar  in  point  of  style.  Prof.  Albert  S.  Cook  de- 
clares it,  finally,  the  chief  bond  that  holds  united,  in  a  common  loyalty 
and  a  common  endeavor,  the  various  branches  of  the  English  race. 
In  no  generation  since,  however,  has  the  influence  of  the  English 
Bible  been  so  marked  as  in  that  which  followed  its  first  publication. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  were  the  thoughts  of  a  certain  great  English  poet  upon  reading 

George  Chapman's  translation  of  Homer? 

2.  Does  the  transition   from  the  Club  at  the  Mermaid  Tavern  to  one  of 

our  larger  city  "clubs"  denote  progress? 

3.  Who  were  the  great  men  at  the  Mermaid  Tavern  and  of  what  do  you 

think  they  talked? 

4.  Who   wrote   "  The   Shoemaker's   Holiday,"   "  The   Duchess   of    Malfi," 

"The  English  Traveler,"  and  "The  Spanish  Gypsy"? 

5.  Tell  something  of  the  career  of  him  who  wrote  "  A  New  Way  to  Pay 

Old  Debts." 

6.  Who   wrote   "  The   Anatomy  of   Melancholy "  ? 

7.  What  do  you  know  of  the  literary;  power  of  the  English  Bible? 

8.  From  what  you  know  of  the  Elizabethan  playwrights,  do  you  believe 

that  the  opportunity  to  obtain  large  sums  of  money  for  works  of 
the  imagination  is  a  necessary  stimulus  for  great  literary  production? 

9.  When  Shakespeare  died,  under  whose  governance  and  in  what  condi- 

tion of  settlement  was  North   America? 
10.  There  is  a  spirit  in  every  age  ;  by  writing  five  hundred  words  express 
what  you  can  of  the  spirit  of  England  between  1560  and  1605. 

Suggested  Readings. — The  representative  works  of  the  different 
authors  are  mentioned  in  the  chapter.  Read  those  for  which  you  can  find 
time.  For  further  biographical  and  critical  matter  consult  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  the  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature  and  Cham- 
bers's Encyclop?edia  of  English  Literature.  Time  spent  upon  George  Saints- 
bury's  "  Elizabethan  Literature "  will  be  well  repaid. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PURITAN  AND  CAVALIER   (1625-1660) 

"  What  tiic  Puritans  gave  the  world  was  not  thought  Ijut  action." — 
Wendell  Phillips. 

"  Puritanism,  l)elieving  itself  quick  with  the  seed  of  religious  liberty, 
laid,  without  knowing  it,  the  egg  of  democracy." — Lowell. 

Shakespeare's  age  was  characterized  by  satisfaction  with  the 
world  as  it  is.  Its  attitude  was  that  of  the  Xormans — gallant,  graceful, 
careless,  magnificent.  In  that  which  followed  there  arose  a  generation 
of  men  who  rebelled  against  the  tyranny  of  kings  and  the  vices  of  men. 
Their  philosophy  of  life  is  condensed  into  one  of  Milton's  lines, 

"Love  Virtue;   she  alone  is   free." 

The  spirit  of  these  men  was  essentially  Saxon.  Severe,  narrow,  and 
ascetic,  the  Puritans,  as  they  were  called,  were  distinguished  by  great 
practical  sagacity  and  boundless  energy.  Their  character  is  thus 
eloquently  described  by  Macaulay: 

"  They  habitually  ascribed  every  event  to  the  will  of  the  Great 
Being,  for  whose  power  nothing  was  too  vast,  for  whose  inspection 
nothing  was  too  minute.  The  difference  between  the  greatest  and  the 
meanest  of  mankind  seemed  to  vanish  when  compared  with  the  bound- 
less interval  which  separated  the  whole  race  from  Him  on  whom  their 
own  eyes  were  constantly  fixed.  They  recognized  no  title  to  superior- 
ity but  his  favor;  and,  confident  of  that  favor,  they  despised  all  the 
accomplishments  and  all  the  dignities  of  the  world.  If  they  were 
unacquainted  with  the  works  of  philosophers  and  poets,  they  were 
deeply  read  in  the  oracles  of  God.  If  their  names  were  not  found  in 
the  registers  of  heralds,  they  were  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Life.  If 
their  steps  were  not  accompanied  by  a  splendid  train  of  menials,  legions 
of  ministering  angels  had  charge  over  them.  Their  palaces  were 
houses  not  made  with  hands;  their  diadems  crowns  of  glory  which 
should  never  fade  away.  On  the  rich  and  the  eloquent,  on  nobles 
and  priests,  they  looked  down  with  contempt,  for  they  esteemed 

163 


164 


ENGLISH  LITERATUEE 


themselves  rich  in  a  more  precious  treasure  and  eloquent  in  a  more 
sublime  language,  nobles  by  the  right  of  an  earlier  creation  and  priests 
by  the  imposition  of  a  mightier  hand.  People  who  saw  nothing  of 
the  godly  but  their  uncouth  visages,  and  heard  nothing  of  them  but 


The  'l-'.'.'  r   ■■:    l.";i'i..,i 
From  Tower  Bridge 

their  groans  and  their  whining  hymns,  might  laugh  at  them.  But 
those  had  little  reason  to  laugh  who  encountered  them  in  the  hall  of 
debate  or  on  the  field  of  battle." 

When  Charles  I  (1625-1649)  came  to  the  throne  he  determined 
to  impose  on  these  formidable  fanatics  a  system  of  religion  which 


PURITAN  AND  CAVALIER  165 

they  abhorred  and  a  scheme  of  taxation  which  was  not  based  upon  the 
consent  of  padiament.  There  followed  a  political  struggle  which 
lasted  until  1642  and  a  civil  war  which  ended  1649  in  the  complete 
triumph  of  the  Puritans,  the  decapitation  of  the  king,  and  the  trans- 
formation of  the  government  into  a  commonwealth  with  Oliver  Crom- 
well as  Protector.  After  Cromwell's  death  in  1658,  his  son  Richard 
was  unable  to  retain  his  power,  and  the  monarchy  was  restored, 
Charles  II,  the  son  of  Charles  I,  becoming  king.  These  great  events 
naturally  produced  a  profound  effect  upon  the  literature  of  the  time. 
Accordingly  we  find  the  writers  of  the  day  sharply  divided  into  two 
parties,  the  Puritans  and  the  Cavaliers. 

For  the  most  part  the  latter  were  gay,  noble,  and  courtly  gentle- 
men. Somebody  has  aptly  compared  them  to  the  Southerners  who 
fought  under  Lee  and  Jackson  in  our  civil  war.  Robert  Browning,  in 
his  "  Cavalier  Tunes,"  caught  their  spirit  when  he  wrote: 

"King  Charles,  and  who'll  do  him  right  now? 
King  Charles,  and  who's  ripe  for  fight  now? 
Give  a  rouse  :  here's,  in  hell's  despite  now. 
King  Charles !  " 

"  Kentish  Sir  Byng  stood  for  his  King, 
Bidding  the   crop-headed   Parliament   swing: 
And,  pressing  a  troop  una1)le  to  stoop 
And  see  the  rogues  flourish  and  honest  folk  droop. 
Marched  them  along,   fifty-score   strong, 
Great-hearted  gentlemen,  singing  this  song." 

The  army  with  which  Cromwell  opposed  these  gallant  soldiers  is 
described  by  Macaulay  as  democratic,  sober,  intelligent,  and  animated 
by  fierce  rehgious  zeal.    He  adds: 

"  In  war  this  strange  force  was  irresistible.  The  stubborn  courage 
characteristic  of  the  English  people  was,  by  the  system  of  Cromwell, 
at  once  regulated  and  stimulated.  His  troops  moved  to  victory  with 
the  precision  of  machines,  while  burning  with  the  wildest  fanaticism 
of  Crusaders.  His  army  never  found  an  enemy  who  could  stand  its 
onset.  In  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  Flanders,  the  Puritan  warriors, 
often  surrounded  by  difficulties,  sometimes  contending  against  three- 
fold odds,  not  only  never  failed  to  conquer,  but  never  failed  to 
destroy  and  break  in  pieces  whatever  force  was  opposed  to  them. 
They  at  length  came  to  regard  the  day  of  battle  as  a  day  of  certain 


166  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

triumph  and  marched  against  the  most  renowned  battalions  of 
Europe  with  .disdainful  confidence.  Turenne  was  startled  by  the 
shout  of  stern  exultation  with  which  his  English  allies  advanced  to  the 
combat,  and  expressed  the  delight  of  a  true  soldier  when  he  learned 
it  was  ever  the  fashion  of  Cromwell's  pikemen  to  rejoice  greatly  when 
they  beheld  the  enemy;  and  the  banished  Cavaliers  felt  an  emotion  of 
national  pride,  when  they  saw  a  brigade  of  their  countrymen,  out- 
numbered by  foes  and  abandoned  by  friends,  drive  before  it  in  head- 
long rout  the  finest  infantry  of  Spain  and  force  a  passage  into  a 
counterscarp  which  had  just  been  pronounced  impregnable  by  the 
ablest  of  the  Marshals  of  France." 

In  literature,  as  in  war,  the  Puritan  excelled  the  Cavalier.  Among 
the  latter,  however,  were  several  excellent  writers  both  in  prose  and 
verse.     Brief  notes  on  the  chief  of  these  follow: 

''^Thomas  Hobbes  (1588-1679)  in  1651  published  "Leviathan:  or 
the  Matter,  Form,  and  Power  of  a  Commonwealth,  Ecclesiastical 
and  Civil,"  in  which  he  represented  man  as  a  selfish  and  ferocious  ani- 
mal, requiring  the  strong  arm  of  despotism  to  keep  him  in  check.  In 
this  and  other  works  he  maintained  that  all  human  actions  spring  from 
selfishness.  "  Words,"  he  said,  in  "  Leviathan,"  "  are  wise  men's  coun- 
ters,— they  do  but  reckon  with  them;  but  they  are  the-money  of  fools." 
Robert  Herrick  (1591-1674)  is  one  of  our  finest  lyrical  poets.  As 
a  young  man  he  often  heard  the  chimes  at  midnight  with  Ben  Jonson; 
later  he  took  holy  orders.    Among  his  best  verses  are  the  following: 

"  Some  asked  me  where  the  rubies  grew, 
And  nothing  I  did  say ; 
But  with  my  finger  pointed  to 
The  Hps  of  Julia." 

"  Some  asked  how  pearls  did  grow,  and  where? 
Then  spoke  I  to  my  girl 
To  part  her  lips,  and  showed  them  there 
The  quarelets  of  pearl." 

"You  say  to  me-wards  your  affection's  strong; 
Pray  love  me  little,  so  you  love  me  long." 

"  Gather  ye  rosebuds  whije  ye  may ; 
Old  Tirhe  is  still  a-flying, 
And  this  same  flower  that  smiles  to-day 
To-morrow  w^ll  be  d^ing." 


PURITAN  AND  CAVALIER  167 

"  Her  pretty  feet,  like  snails,  did  creep 
A  little  out,  and  then, 
As  if  they  played  at  bo-peep, 
Did  soon  draw  in  again." 

His  best  poem,  "  A  Thanksgiving  for  his  House,"  is  a  lovely  medley 
of  piety  and  satisfaction  for  the  material  comforts  of  life.  Sir  Egerton 
Brydges  calls  him  the  most  gladsome  of  bards,  singing  as  if  he  would 
never  grow  old,  as  fresh  as  spring,  as  blithe  as  summer,  and  as  ripe 
as  autumn.     — 

The  good  sentence,  "  Be  wisely  worldly,  be  not  worldly  wise," 
occurs  in  the  "  Emblems"  of  Francis  Quarles  (1592-1644). 

Thomas  Carew  (1594-1639)  wrote  a  considerable  amount  of 
graceful  verse,  of  which  this,  called  "  Disdain  Returned,"  is  a  fair 
sample: 

"  He  that  loves  a  rosy  cheek, 
Or  a  coral  lip  admires. 
Or  from  starlike  eyes  doth  seek  « 

Fuel  to  maintain  his  fires, 
As  old  Time  makes  these  decay 
So  his  flames  must  waste  away." 

Several  of  his  lyrics  retain  their  freshness.  This  is  especially  true 
of  "  On  a  Girdle  "  and  "  Go,  Lovely  Rose." 

Sir  John  Suckling  (1609-1642)  was  the  best  bowler  of  his  gen- 
eration, invented  cribbage,  and  v/rote  excellent  light  verses.  The 
best  of  these  are  "  The  Ballad  upon  a  Wedding,"  "  Constancy,"  "  I 
prithee  send  me  back  my  heart,"  and  the  following  "  Song  ": 

"  Why  so  pale  and  wan,  fond  lover  ? 
Prithee,  why  so  pale? 
Will,  when  looking  well  can't  move  her, 
Looking  ill   prevail? 
Prithee,  why  so  pale  ? 

"Why  so  dull  and  mute,  young  sinner? 
Prithee,   why  so  mute  ? 
Will,  when  speaking  well  can't  win  her, 
Saying   nothing   do't? 
Prithee,   why  so  mute  ? 

"  Quit,  quit   for  shame  ;  this  will  not  move. 
This  cannot  take  her  ; 
If  of  herself  she  will  not  love, 
Nothing  can  make  her  ; 
The  devil  take  her." 

Richard  Lovelace  (1618-1658)  wrote  two  almost  perfect  lyrics, 


168  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  To  Lucasta,  on  Going  to  the  Wars  '"  and  •  To  .\lthea,  from  Prison." 
The  first  runs  thus: 

"  Tell  me  not.  sweet.  I  am  unkind, 
That  from  the  nunnery 
Of  thy  chaste  breast  and  quiet  mind 
To  war  and  arms  I  Hy. 

Yet  this  inconstancy  is  such 

As  you  too  shall  adore : 
I  could  not  love  thee,  dear,  so  much. 

Loved  I  not  honor  more." 

The  last  stanza  of   '  Althea  "  is  as  follows: 

"  Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make, 

Nor  iron  bars  a  cage ; 
Minds  innocent  and  quiet  take 

That   for  an  '.'.ermitage. 
If   I  have  freedom  in  my  love 

And  in  my  soul  am  free, 
Angels  alone,  that  soar  above. 

Enjoy  such  liberty." 

Sir  John  Denham  (1615-1669)  is  chiefly  remembered  by  these  two 
couplets  descriptive  of  the  Thames  in  his  "  Cooper's  Hill  ": 

"  O  could  I  flow  like  thee,  and  make  thy  stream 
•  My  great  example,  as  it  is  my  theme! 
Though  deep,  yet  clear ;  though  gentle,  yet  not  dull ; 
Strong  without  rage ;  without  o'ertiowing,  full." 

The  most  popular  in  his  own  day  of  the  Cavalier  poets  was  Abra- 
ham Cowley  (1618-1667).  "The  Chronicle,"  "On  the  Death  of 
Mr.  Crashaw,"  "  A  Wish."  and  "  The  Wish  "  should  be  read  by  all 
students.  One  or  two  of  his  sentences  linger  in  the  memory.  For 
instance:  "^ 

"Let  but  the  wicked  men  from  out  thee'  go,  [^London] 

And  all  the  fools  that  crowd  thee  so. 
Even  thou,  who  dost  thy  millions  boast, 
A  village  less  than   Islington   will  grow, 
A  solitude  almost.  "  _of  Solitude. 

"  God  the  first  garden  made,  and  the  first  city  Cain." 

— The  Garden. 
Probably  it  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  Cowley  is  now  chiefly 
remembered  by  Pope's  lines: 

"Who  now  reads  Cowley?     If  he  pleases  yet 
His  moral  pleases,  not  his  pointed  wit : 
Forgot  his  epic,  nay,  Pindaric  art. 
But  still  I  love  the  language  of  his  heart." 


PURITAN  AND  CAVALIER  169 

Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon  (1608-1674),  wrote  a  '"  Histor>' 
of  the  Rebellion  in  England  "  which,  on  accouqt  of  its  stately  style, 
its  narrative  skill,  and  its  splendid  portraits  of  the  chief  actors  in  the 
drama,  is  an  imperishable  classic.  His  friends  regarded  him  as  a 
wise  and  upright  statesman,  his  foes  as  a  sycophant  and  hvpocrite.* 

Sir  Thomas^Browne  (1605-1682)  published  ''  Religio  Medici  (A 
Doctor's  Religion),"  1635,  and  '"  Hydriotaphia,"  or  '•Urn  Burial," 
1658.  Both  works  are  characterized  by  a  high  order  of  reflection  and 
humor.  Dr.  Johnson,  Coi^-per,  Coleridge,  Lamb,  Hazlitt,  Carlyle, 
Pater,  and  Stevenson  were  all  appreciative  students  of  Browne. 

The  chief  works  of  Thomas  Fuller  (1608-1661)  were  "  The  Holy^ 
State  '"  and  "  The  Worthies  of  England."  The  latter  is  an  agreeable 
mixture  of  topography,  biography,  and  popular  traditions.  Among 
his  clever  sentences  are  these:  ''  He  knows  little  who  will  tell  his  wife 
all  he  knows."  "  To  smell  to  a  fresh  turf  is  wholesome  for  the  body; 
no  less  are  thoughts  of  mortality  cordial  to  the  soul."  "  The  Pyra- 
mids themselves,  doting  with  age,  have  forgotten  the  names  of  *their 
founders."  "  Learning  hath  gained  most  by  those  books  b}^  which  the 
printers  have  lost."  "  Often  the  cockloft  is  empty  in  those  whom 
Nature  hath  built  many  stories  high." '  ''  Moderation  is  the  silken 
string  running  through  the  pearl  chain  of  all  virtues."  Fuller's 
memor}''  was  prodigious.  After  twice  hearing  500  disconnected  words, 
he  could  repeat  them,  and  could  recite  all  of  the  signs  in  one  of  the 
chief  London  streets  after  passing  through  it  once  and  back. 

Jeremy  Taylorf  1613-1667)  was  called  by  Coleridge  the  most 
eloquent  (Jf  "dfvmes!  His  chief  work  was  "  Holy  Living  and  Holy 
D\ang."  Dr.  Parr  said  that  Englishmen  ^evere  Barrow,  admire 
Hooker,  and  love  Jeremy  Taylor.  One  critic  calls  him  the  Shake- 
speare of  divines;  another  declares  that  as  a  writer  of  impassioned 
prose  Milton  is  his  only  superior. 

Izaak  Walton  (1593-1683)  wrote  fine  biographies  of  Dr.  Donne, 
Sir  Henr}-  Wotton,  Richard  Hooker,  George  Herbert,  and  Bishop  San- 
derson, but  his  chief  work  was  ''  The  Compleat  Angler,"  which  came 
out  1653  and  has  ever  since  been  regarded  as  a  classic.  His  state- 
ments about  fish  are  not  always  accurate  and  his  advice  to  fishermen 
is  often  open  to  criticism,  but  his  style  is  admirable  and  his  philosophy 


170  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

attractive.  He  loved  his  art,  of  which  he  said  that  no  severe,  sour- 
complexioned  man  was  a  competent  judge.  Angling,  according  to 
him,  is  so  like  the  mathematics  that  it  can  never  be  fully  learnt. 
"  As  no  man  is  born  an  artist  so  no  man  is  born  an  angler,"  he  asserts, 
and  adds:  "  It  is  an  art  worthy  of  the  knowledge  and  art  of  a  wise 
man.  It  is  somewhat  like  poetry — men  are  to  be  born  so.  We  may 
say  of  angling  as  Dr.  Boteler  said  of  strawberries:  '  Doubtless  God 
could  have  made  a  better  berry,  but  doubtless  God  never  did  ';  and 
so,  if  I  might  be  judge,  God  never  did  make  a  more  calm,  quiet,  in- 
nocent recreation  than  angling This  dish  of  meat  is  too 

good  for  any  but  anglers,  or  very  honest  men Thus  use 

your  frog:  put  your  hook — I  mean  the  arming  wire — through  his 
mouth  and  out  at  his  gills,  and  then  with  a  fine  needle  and  silk  sew 
the  upper  part  of  his  leg  with  only  one  stitch  to  the  arming  wire  of 
your  hook,  or  tie  the  frog's  leg  above  the  upper  joint  to  the  armed 
wire;  and  in  so  doing  use  him  as  though  you  loved  him."  It  was  this 
last  sentence  perhaps  that  Byron  had  in  mind  when  he  wrote: 

"  And  angling,  too,  that  solitary  vice, 
Whatever  Izaak  Walton  sings  or  says ; 
The  quaint  old  cruel  coxcomb  in  his  gullet 
Should  have  a  hook  and  a  small  trout  to  pull  it." 

Walton's  descriptions  of  nature,  his  recipes  for  cooking  fish,  and  the 
verses  scattered  through  the  book  are  all  works  of  art.  As  we  close 
it,  we  exclaim  with  him: 

"O  the  gallant  fisher's  life! 
Tt  is  the  best  of  any ; 
Tis  full  of  pleasure,  void  of  strife, 
And  't  is  beloved  by  many." 

Edmund  Wallex  (1606-1687)  was  a  royalist,  but  no  martyr. 
Accordingly,  when  Cromwell  was  in  power,  he  wrote  an  excellent 
"  Panegyric  to  my  Lord  Protector,"  and,  when  Charles  II  came  to  the 
throne,  he  composed  a  congratulatory  address  in  honor  of  the  event. 
Charles  commented  on  the  inferiority  of  the  latter,  but  Waller  was 
ready  with  a  reply.  "  Poets,  sire,"  he  said,  ''  succeed  better  in  fiction 
than  in  truth."  His  poems  are  graceful.  Fenton  called  him  maker 
and  model  of  melodious  verse.  His  greatest  achievement  was  to 
give  the  heroic  couplet  the  form  and  music  which  were  perfected  by 


PURITAN  AND  CAVALIER  171 

Dryden  and  Pope.  He  did  this  by  refusing  to  allow  a  sentence  to 
overflow  from  one  couplet  into  the  next,  as  it  had  in  Jonson's  and 
did  later  in  Keats's  hands.    Among  his  best  couplets  are  these: 

"  The  soul's  dark  cottage,  battered  and  decayed, 
Lets  in  new  light  through  chinks  that  Time  has  made. 

"  Poets  lose  half  the  praise  they  should  have  got, 
Could  it  be  known  what  they  discreetly  blot." 

On  the  Puritan  side  in  the  great  struggle  we  find  less  wit  and  grace 
than  among  the  Cavaliers,  but  more  learning  and  piety.  Among  the 
minor  writers  who  upheld  the  cause  of  the  parliament  the  following 
are  to  be  remembered: 

The  "  Table  Talk  "  of  John  Selden  (1584-1654)  is  full  of  words 
that  are  as  fresh  to-day  as  when  they  were  penned.  Among  them  these 
are  noteworthy:  "  Old  friends  are  best.  King  James  used  to  call 
for  his  old  shoes;  they  were  easiest  for  his  feet."  "  Humility  is  a 
virtue  all  preach,  none  practice,  and  yet  everybody  is  content  to  hear." 
"  Commonly  we  say  a  judgment  falls  upon  a  man  for  something  in  him 
we  cannot  abide."  "  Ignorance  of  the  law  excuses  no  man;  not  that 
all  men  know  the  law,  but  because  'tis  an  excuse  every  man  will  plead, 
and  no  man  can  tell  how  to  refute  him."  "  Thou  little  thinkest  what 
a  little  foolery  governs  the  world."  "  They  that  govern  the  most 
make  the  least  noise."  "  Never  tell  your  resolution  beforehand." 
"  Wise  men  say  nothing  in  dangerous  times."  *' 

William  Prynne  (1600-1669)  wrote  diatribes  against  iSve  locks, 
the  drinking  of  healths,  and  the  theatre.  The  last,  called  "  Histrio- 
Mastix,"  or  "  The  Player's  Scourge,"  was  so  scurrilous  that  it  was 
burnt  by  the  hangman  and  its  author  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of 
5000  pounds,  lose  both  his  ears  in  the  pillory,  and  suffer  perpetual 
imprisonment.  Later  for  fresh  offences  he  was  branded  on  both 
cheeks  with  the  letters  "  S.  L.",  "  seditious  libeller." 

James  Harrington  (1611-1677)  is  remembered  by  his  "  Oceana," 
a  political  romance  in  which  he  describes  England  reconstituted  as 
a  free  republic. 

Richard  Baxter  (1615-1691)  wrote  168  works  of  various  sizes, 
from  pamphlets  to  folios.  Two  of  these,  the  "  Saints'  Everlasting 
Rest  "  (1650)  and  the  "  Call  to  the  Unconverted  "  (1657),  are  still 


172  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

popular.  Though  a  Puritan,  he  defied  Cromwell  and  was  distinguished 
for  his  moderation  as  well  as  his  eloquence. 

John  Howe  (1630-1705)  was  a  great  Puritan  divine  and  one  of 
Cromwell's  chaplains.  On  fast  days  his  services  lasted  over  six 
hours.    He  wrote  several  excellent  treatises  on  practical  religion. 

Lucy  Hutchinson  (1620-?),  the  wife  of  the  Reverend  John 
Hutchinson,  wrote  the  "  Memoirs  "  of  her  husband  for  her  children's 
instruction.     The    book    gives    a    valuable    picture    of    a    Puritan 

household. 

Andrew^MarveUU  162 1-1678)  is  distinguished  more  by  his  friend- 
ship for  John  Milton  and  his  refusal  to  be  bribed  by  Charles  II 
than  for  his  writings.  His  prose  was  popular  in  his  day  and  some 
of  his  poems  deserve  to  be  read  in  ours.  The  best  of  these  are  "  The 
Garden,"  "  The  Emigrants  in  the  Bermudas,"  and  "  The  Character  of 
Holland." 

John. Fox  (1624-1690),  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
must  be  mentioned  here  on  account  of  his  "  Journal."  As  a  boy  he 
spent  most  of  his  time  tending  sheep.  As  a  young  man  he  refrained 
from  liquor,  tobacco,  and  matrimony.  From  1646  he  ceased  attending 
church  and  spent  his  time  going  about  the  country  with  a  Bible  under 
his  arm.  The  Lord  often  appeared  to  him  in  visions.  From  1647 
he  was  an  itinerant  preacher.  He  disbelieved  in  a  separate  clerical 
profession,  in  meeting  houses  with  steeples,  and  in  the  Scriptures  as 
a  guide,  holding  that  the  light  within  should  be  followed.  That  light 
bade  him  to  take  off  his  hat  to  nobody,  to  thee  and  thou  rich  and  poor, 
to  denounce  all  public  amusements,  to  go  into  a  meeting  house  while 
service  was  in  progress,  to  interrupt  the  preacher,  and  to  cry  out  loudly 
to  him, "  Come  down,  thou  deceiver."  In  consequence  he  spent  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  his  life  in  jail.  In  1656  there  were  nearly  a  thou- 
sand of  his  converts  also  in  various  prisons.  In  spite  of  his  eccen- 
tricities. Fox  was  essentially  a  shrewd  and  sober  man,  full  of  love  for 
his  fellows  and  efficient  in  devising  plans  for  poor  relief,  education, 
and  self-help.  His  most  famous  follower  was  the  William  Penn  who 
founded  Pennsylvania. 

Towering  above  these  great  Puritan  writers  there  are  two  men 
whose  fame  has  eclipsed  that  of  all  their  enemies  and  allies.     These 


PURITAN  AND  CAVALIER  173 

are  John  Milton,  whose  literary  genius  was  second  to  that  of  Shake- 
speare alone,  and  John  Bunyan,  the  author  of  the  finest  allegory  in  any 
language.  Each  in  his  way  is  so  great  that  he  must  have  a  chapter 
to  himself. 

QUESTIONS  AND   EXERCISES 

1.  Descrilje  the  political  and  religious  differences  between  the  Puritans  and 

the  Cavaliers. 

2.  What  was  the  Puritan's  outlook  on  life? 

3.  How  did  Cavnlier  literature  differ  from  Puritan  literature? 

4.  Why  is  John  Fox  of  especial  interest  to  Americans? 

5.  How  would  you  account  for  the  fact  that  a  book  written  a!)out  three 

hundred  years  ago  upon  the  art  of  angling  should  still  be  read  and 
loved?     What  was  the  book  and  who  was  the  author? 

6.  Have  you  more  of  the  Puritan  or  the  Cavalier  in  your  disposition? 

7.  Who  wrote : 

"  I  could  not   love  thee,  dear,  so  much, 
Loved  I  not  honor  more." 

8.  What  is  "  Table  Talk  "  ? 

9.  What  do  you  think  literature  meant  to  the  Puritans  ? 
10.  What  did  it  mean  to  the  Cavaliers  ? 

Suggested  Readings. — A  library  copy  of  any  large  encyclopsedia  of 
poetry  will  enable  you  to  grasp  the  spirit  of  the  poets  of  this  period.  It  is 
essential  that  30U  obtain  an  understanding"  of  the  historical  movements  of 
the  period.  Consult  Gardiner's  "  Student's  History  of  England."  You 
will  never  regret  an  acquaintance  with  "  The  Compleat  Angler." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
JOHN  MILTON  (1608-1674) 

"  This  man  cuts  us  all  out  and  the  ancients,  too." — Dryden. 
"  That  mighty  orb  of  song,  the  divine  Milton." — Wordsworth. 
"God-gifted  organ  voice  of  'Eng\^.nA."— Tennyson. 
"Thy  soul  was  like  a  star,  and  dwelt  apart."— IV ordsworth.  '    , 

In  the  days  when  the  exuberant  vitality  of  the  great  men  of 
Elizabeth's  spacious  times  flowed  still  unchecked  by  the  Puritan 
reaction,  when  Ben  Jonson,  Shakespeare,  Beaumont,  Fletcher,  made 
merry  at  "  The  Mermaid,"  uttering  words 

"  So  nimble,  and  so  full  of  subtile  flame. 
As  if  that  every  one  from  whence  they  came 
Had  meant  to  put  his  whole  wit  in  a  jest," 

a  little  boy,  refined  of  face,  gentle  of  demeanor,  who  was  destined 
to  utter  the  clarion  note  of  the  Puritan  Age,  was  playing  and  learn- 
ing his  lessons  in  his  home  in  one  of  London's  narrow  streets. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  lives  of  the  two  men  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  the  first  and  the  second  in  the  greatest  of  the 
world's  literatures,  England's,  should  have  overlapped  by  a  few  years. 
Nor  is  the  time  element  their  only  common  possession.  Milton  is  a 
belated  Elizabethan;  in  the  keenness  of  his  appreciation  of  beauty, 
in  the  ability  to  reach  and  keep  sublime  heights,  in  unfettered  imagi- 
nation that  dared  to  conceive  or  to  ignore  what  is  physically  impos- 
sible, Milton  is  of  the  Elizabethan  group.  But  he  had  fallen  upon 
evil  days;  the  intensity  of  struggle  in  things  political,  moral,  and 
spiritual,  gripped  him,  and  largely  influenced  the  character  of  his 
work.  It  is  interesting  to  speculate  as  to  what  his  genius  would 
have  given  us  had  he  been  born  half  a  century  earlier — had  he  been 
of  that  group  of  luminous  orbs  whose  central  sun  was  Shakespeare, 

It  is  more  than  likely  that  the  boy  John  Milton  may  have  seen 
Shakespeare  pass  his  father's  house  in  Bread  Street,  Cheapside, 
where  Milton  was  born  December  9,  1608.  Undoubtedly  Shakespeare 
many  times  traversed  Bread  Street,  a  direct  route  between  his  lodg- 
ings and  the  theatre  in  which  his  plays  were  given  by  his  own 
174 


JOHN  MILTON 


175 


company  and  under  his  direction;  many  times  must  he  have  passed 
the  shop  of  John  Milton,  scrivener,  at  the  sign  of  the  Spread  Eagle, 
who  with  his  family  lived  in  rooms  over  the  shop.  Although,  in  1612, 
Shakespeare  made  his  home  permanently  in  Stratford,  that  he  after- 
wards visited  London  is  attested  by  the  date  of  his  signature  in  the 


I 


JUll.,    xMILTON 

1608 — 1674 

From  the  portrait  by  Pieter  Van  der  Plaas 


register  of  an  old  inn  at  Oxford,  no  doubt  a  comfortable  resting 
place  for  a  traveler  journeying  from  Stratford  to  London.  It  is 
certainly  pleasant  to  fancy  the  clear-eyed  handsome  boy  stopping  in 
his  play  before  his  father's  shop  door  to  look  for  a  moment  upon 


176  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  sweetest  Shakespeare,  Fancy's  child,"  whose  mantle  of  greatness 
should,  in  the  days  to  come,  be  nearly  equaled  by  Milton's  own. 

John  Milton,  scrivener,  a  man  of  integrity  and  good  sense,  had 
prospered  since  his  coming  from  Oxfordshire  to  London.  However, 
he  evidently  had  other  interests  than  those  of  business,  for  he  com- 
posed tunes  and  songs  of  an  excellent  sort.  He  valued  the  better 
things  of  life;  and  the  home  atmosphere  which  young  Milton  breathed 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  plain  living  and  high  thinking.  The 
scrivener  sent  his  son  to  St.  Paul's  School  near  by,  and,  in  addition, 
secured  for  him  an  excellent  private  tutor.  Young  Milton  studied 
with  ardor,  and  early  began  to  burn  the  midnight  oil.  At  sixteen  he 
entered  Christ  College,  Cambridjre,  and,  except  for  a  single  youthful 
outburst  against  authority,  won  the  unqualified  approval  of  his  mas- 
ters. Even  while  at  college  he  nursed  the  noble  ambition  to  do 
"  a  work  which  the  world  would  not  willingly  let  die,"  and  began  to 
form  the  first  rough  drafts  of  what  later  developed  into  the  great 
Puritan  epic,  "  Paradise  Lost." 

While  yet  a  student  at  Cambridge,  Milton  began  on  Christmas 
Day,  1629,  the  beautiful  ode  "  On  the  Morning  of  Christ's  Nativity." 
This  poem  shows  the  true  Elizabethan  feeling  for  beauty,  and  for 
beauty  as  expressed  in  language.  The  ear  finely  attuned  to  music 
is  evident  in  such  Hues  as: 

"  With  turtle  wing  the  amorous  clouds  dividing;  "  (1.  50) 

"  When  such  music  sweet 
Their  hearts  and  ears  did  greet 

As  never  was  by  mortal  finger  strook, 
Divinely  warbled  voice 
Answering  the  stringed  noise 

As  all  their  souls  in  blissful  rapture  took; 
The  air,  such  pleasure  loath  to  lose, 
With  thousand  echoes  still  prolongs  each  heavenly  close."       (1.  92-100) 

"  With  radiant  feet  the  tissued  clouds  down  steering."  (1.  146) 

These,   for  unalloyed  beauty,  may  be  compared  with  these  from 

''  Comus  ": 

"  Sabrina   fair, 
Listen  where  thou  art  sitting 
Under  the  glassy,  cool,  translucent  wave, 

In  twisted  braids  of  lilies  knitting 
The  loose  train  of  thine  amber-dropping  hair;  "         (1.  859-863) 

and  with  few  others  from  other  sources;  these  excerpts,  with  many 


JOHN  MILTON  177 

others  that  might  be  cited,  fully  justify  Macaulay's  statement  that 
Milton's  genius  was  lyric. 

On  his  graduation  from  Cambridge,  Milton  showed  averseness  to 
choosing  a  profession;  for  him  the  law  had  no  attractions,  and  his 
deep-rooted  passion  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  liberty  precluded  his 
binding  himself  to  any  formulated  doctrine,  as  he  must  do  if  he  took 
orders.  He  spent  the  years  between  1632-1638  in  retirement  at  his 
father's  pleasant  country  home  at  Horton,  about  eighteen  miles  from 
London  and  a  short  distance  from  Windsor  and  Eton,  where  he 
studied,  thought  much,  wandered  in  the  out-of-doors,  and  wrote  but 
little.  It  was  not  merely  indolence  that  kept  him  unproductive; 
although  he  was  dissatisfied  with  his  progress  (see  Sonnet  II,  "  Written 
on  My  Twenty-third  Birthday  ")  he  knew  that  he  was  doing  the 
wisest  and  best  thing — and  what  mattered  it  what  others  might  think? 
The  calm  detachment  from  bustle  and  stir  proved  meet  nurse  for  a 
poetic  child ;  his  soul  was  nurtured,  and  his  great  purpose  to  dedicate 
his  talents  to  some  noble  work  was  strengthened.  Milton,  like 
Wordsworth,  "  felt  himself  a  consecrated  being";  and  the  splendid 
steadfastness  with  which  he  held  to  his  lofty  purpose  through  the 
years  of  turmoil  and  strife  from  1642  to  1658,  years  during  which  he 
was  compelled  to  defer  his  great  purpose,  but  never  to  relinquish  it, 
are  a  testimony  to  the  greatness  of  a  soul  which  held  itself  "As  ever  in 
my  great  Taskmaster's  eye."  Several  sonnets,  the  incomparable  twin 
lyrics,"  L'Allegro  "  and  "  II  Penseroso,"  "  Lycidas,"  and  the  Masque 
of  "  Comus,"  were  written  during  the  years  at  Horton.  These,  with 
the  Hymn  to  the  Nativity,  are  sometimes  miscalled  Milton's  "  minor  " 
poems;  they  are  "  minor  "  only  in  the  relative  sense  that  "  Paradise 
Lost  "  is  truly  a  magnum  opus.  If  the  few  years  of  comparative  idle- 
ness at  Horton  had  produced  nothing  more  than  "  L'Allegro  "  and  "  II 
Penseroso  "  the  time  would  have  been  not  ill-spent.  Such  poems  as 
these  could  have  been  written  only  in  the  joyous  youth  time  of  a  great 

soul  enjoying  to  the  full  ,.      .  ..  ,  ^    . 

retired  Leisure, 

That  in  trim  gardens  takes  his  pleasure;" 
only  by  a  mind  well  stored  with  the  world's  best,  temporarily  unfet- 
tered, free  at  will  to  catch 

"  new  pleasures, 
Whilst  the  landskip  round  it  measures," 
12 


ITS  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

or  to  follow  the  beckoning  of  the  "Cherub  Contemplation."  "Comus" 
and  "Lycidas"  might  have  been  written  amid  other  surroundings;  but 
without  such  experience  as  that  at  Horton  "L'Allegro"  and  "II  Pense- 
roso"  could  never  have  been  given  forth.  If  "  't  were  worth  ten  years 
of  peaceful  life  "  but  to  glance  at  the  martial  array  of  Scott's  border 
warriors,  it  is  well  worth  five  years  of  anybody's  life,  even  of  Milton's, 
to  have  given  us  two  such  poems,  unique  in  literature,  breathing  the 
charm  and  beauty  of  rural  England,  that  blend  of  sounds  and  sights 
and  odors  as  perceived  by  the  clear-brained,  healthy-minded  young 
student  whose  poetic  fancy  transmuted  these  good  common  things 
by  his  buoyancy  of  youthful  feeling  into  the  pure  gold  of  lyric  excel- 
lence. But  with  these  he  lost  this  chord  of  bright,  spontaneous, 
youthful  gladness;  his  lyre  vibrated  to  the  same  note  never  again. 

"  Lycidas,"  a  threnody,  written  to  commemorate  Edward  King,  a 
college  friend  of  Milton,  who  met  his  untimely  death  by  shipwreck 
in  the  Irish  Sea,  has  been  called  by  Mark  Pattison,  one  of  Milton's 
biographers,  "  the  high-water  mark  of  English  poetry."  This  is  high 
praise;  indeed,  some  passages  in  the  poem  can  hardly  be  over- 
praised; but  it  is  marred  by  lines  expressing  Milton's  detestation  of 
what  seemed  to  him  abuses  in  matters  religious,  and  unfortunately  this 
expression  is  not  free  from  rancor.  The  poem  is  a  pastoral  allegory 
somewhat  in  the  manner  of  Theocritus  and  Virgil;  Milton  employs 
the  fauns,  satyrs,  and  nymphs  of  classic  lore,  and  introduces  also 
touches  of  the  myths  and  legends  of  Cornwall  and  Saxon  England; 
he  represents  his  friend  Edward  King  and  himself  as  shepherds  piping 
to  their  flocks,  and  again  uses  the  figure  of  the  shepherd  in  the  script- 
ural sense  of  a  religious  leader.  This  is  confusing.  Doubtless  no  one 
but  Milton  could  so  have  commingled  such  various  elements  in  a  poem 
so  beautiful  and  so  impressive;  here  indeed  he  '"  touched  the  tender 
stops  of  various  quills."  In  this  poem  is  wealth  abounding — noble 
thoughts 

"Manned  to  immortal^ verse 
Untwisting  all  the  chains  that  tie 
The  hidden  soul  of  harmony  " — 

together  with  varied  and  profuse  imagery. 

In  ''  Lycidas  "  we  see  the  highest  poetic  genius  combined  with  de- 


JOHN  XILTOX  179 

nunciatory  vehemence,  with  almost  fanatical  passion.  In  "  Comus,  a 
Masque,"  we  see  poetic  beauty  conjoined  with  noble  moral  and  relig- 
ious fervor  without  a  trace  of  the  bitterness  and  scorn  that  to  some 
degree  mars  the  perfection  of  "  Lycidas."  Milton's  musical  tastes  had 
been  the  means  of  acquainting  him  with  Henry  Lawes,  one  of  the 
foremost  composers  of  that  day.  Therefore  when  Lawes  was  com- 
missioned to  compose  a  masque  for  an  important  occasion  he  naturally 
turned  to  his  poet  friend  Milton  to  furnish  the  verses  for  which 
Lawes  would  supply  the  musical  setting.  The  masque  was  a  sort  of 
fanciful  indoor  pageant.  It  became  even  more  popular  after  the 
Puritans  began  to  raise  their  voices  against  the  theatre  than  it  had 
ever  been.  For  three  hundred  years  and  more  dancing  by  masqued 
figures  had  been  a  favorite  accompaniment  of  revelry  on  festive  occa- 
sions. The  great  queen  delighted  in  such  pageantry,  and  during  her 
reign  "  masque  "  dancing  came  to  be  associated  with  minor  dramatic 
presentations,  either  wholly  out-of-doors  or  within  roofless  theatre- 
walls,  and  at  length  to  be  a  recognized  feature  of  regular  comedy. 
During  the  time  of  James  I,  the  skill  of  Ben  Jonson  gave  to  the  masque 
something  of  literary  value ;  and  as  the  public  theatres  were  more  and 
more  frowned  upon  by  the  increasingly  influential  Puritans  the  masque 
became  more  and  more  a  feature  of  court  life.  Consequently  it 
grew  in  splendor  and  elaborateness;  no  important  court  celebration 
was  complete  without  it;  masques  were  given  on  royal  birthdays, 
on  the  marriages  of  noble  couples,  on  any  notable  event  in  the  lives 
of  any  of  the  great.  Some  of  the  principal  features  of  the  masque 
were  these: 

1 .  The  theme  of  necessity  bore  reference  to  the  particular  occasion 
for  which  it  was  written. 

2.  The  leading  characters  were  usually  personated  by  members 
of  the  noble  family  chiefly  concerned  in  the  event  thus  celebrated. 

3.  Two  distinct  thematic  elements  were  combined:  (a)  the 
"  masque,"  which  developed  an  elevated  theme,  and  (b)  the  "  anti- 
masque,"  which  developed  a  grotesque  theme. 

4.  The  m3'thological  element  was  present. 

5.  Profuse  compliment  to  the  noble  persons  concerned. 


180  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

6.  Elaborate  setting  and  costuming,  dialogue,  singing,  and 
dancing. 

The  pleasure-loving  "  cavalier  "  element  among  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  the  court  were  fond  of  personating  the  gods  and  demi- 
gods of  mythology,  and  of  attiring  themselves  in  the  elaborate  and 
fanciful  garb  of  such  characters;  to  members  of  the  family  most 
concerned  in  any  particular  celebration  were  usually  entrusted  the 
characters  of  the  "  masque "  as  distinguished  from  the  "  anti- 
masque  ";  the  characters  of  the  latter  were  frequently  assumed  by 
merely  hired  performers  of  even  whose  names  no  records  were  kept; 
this  explains  why  we  do  not  know  who  personated  Comus,  which, 
although  the  titular  role,  belongs  to  the  "  anti-masque." 

What  was  the  occasion  which  the  genius  of  Milton  was  thus  to 
immortalize?  It  was  the  inauguration,  in  1634,  of  the  Earl  of 
Bridgewater  as  President  of  Wales.  It  was  mandatory  that  the  Earl's 
three  children,  a  daughter  and  two  sons,  should  have  leading  parts; 
that  the  dramatic  and  musical  talent  of  Henry  Lawes,  "  the  priest  of 
Phcebus's  quire,"  should  be  employed  to  best  advantage.  The  masque 
was  to  be  given  at  Ludlow  Castle,  a  noble  mediaeval  pile  near  the 
Welsh  border  and  situated  on  a  promontory  around  whose  basal  curve 
flows  the  Severn,  stream  of  mystery.  The  district  about  is  even  yet 
well  wooded.  Here  was  a  beautiful  and  romantic  natural  setting. 
How  admirably  and  with  what  skill  Milton's  genius  employed  these 
materials  can  be  understood  only  by  an  appreciative  reading  of  its 

thousand  lines: 

— "  mask  and  antique  pageantry, 
Such  sights  as  youthful  poets  dream 
On  summer  eves  by  haunted  stream." 

The  peril  of  "  the  fair  offspring  "  in  their  journey  to  Ludlow  Castle 

and   their  safe  conduct   to   their  parents   form   the   theme   of   the 

"  masque,"  best  given  in  Milton's  own  words: 

/     .      '  ^  '  ' 

"  And,  all  tli^s  trac^  that  fnonts  the  falling  sun 

A  nol^e  Peer  of  mickle  trust  and  powej> 

Has  in  his  charge,  with  temB.ered  awe^  to  guide 

An  old  and  haughty  nation,  proud  in  arms ; 

Where  his  fair  offspring,  nursed  in  princely  lore, 

Are  coming  to  attend  their  father's  state 

And  new-intrusted  sceptre.     But  their  way 


JOHN  MILTON  181 

Lies  through  the  perplex'd  paths  of  this  drear  wood, 

The  nodding  horror  of   whose   shady   brows 

Threats  the  forlorn  and  wandering  passenger ; 

And  here  their  tender  age  might  suffer  peril."  (1.  30-40) 

The  efforts  of  Comus,  the  enchanter,  to  seduce  the  Lady  by  all  the 
arts  of  sense-appeal  and  the  grotesque  antics  of  his  beastly  followers 
furnish  the  "  anti-masque."  "  Comus  "  fulfils  every  requirement  of  the 
masque;  but  it  does  much  more.  In  Milton's  hands  it  becomes  not 
merely  a  delightful  entertainment,  but  a  noble  didactic  poem  per- 
meated with  lofty  idealism.  Never  has  more  perfect  tribute  been 
paid  to  the  virtue  of  chastity: 

"  So  dear  to  Heaven  is  saintly  chastity 
That,  when  a  soul  is  found  sincerely  so, 
A  thousand  liveried  angels  lackey  her. 
Driving  far  off  each  thing  of  sin  and  guilt, 
And  in  clear  dream  and  solemn  vision 
Tell  her  of  things  that  no  gross  ear  can  hear; 
Till  oft  converse  with  heavenly  habitants 
Begins  to  cast  a  beam  on  the  outward  shape, 
The  unpolluted  temple  of  the  mind. 
And  turns  it  by  degrees  to  the  soul's  essence, 
Till  all  be  made  immortal."  (1.  452-462) 

"Comus"  has  been  called  the  apotheosis  of  virtue.  How  strange  a  turn 
of  Fortune's  wheel  that  a  Puritan  should  have  written  a  masque  far 
superior  to  the  best  produced  by  any  "  cavalier  "  writer,  and  not  only 
that,  but  should  have  made  what  was  originally  a  bit  of  dramatic 
extravaganza  the  vehicle  of  the  highest  moral  expression! 

In  the  earlier  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  believed  that 
"  home-keeping  youth  have  ever  homely  wits,"  and  that  continental 
travel  was  a  necessary  part  of  a  young  man's  education.  Partly,  no 
doubt,  because  it  was  the  fashion,  but  more  because  he  desired  it, 
Milton  set  forth  in  1638  for  a  tour  of  some  length.  He  went  first  to 
Paris,  then  to  Pisa  and  Florence.  Here  he  was  cordially  welcomed 
by  many  of  the  foremost  scholars  of  Italy,  and  here  he  enjoyed  to  the 
full  the  treasures  of  art  and  beauty  which  are  in  especial  the  posses- 
sion of  that  fair  land.  Doubtless  the  celebrated  frescoes  of  Angelo 
and  Raphael  remained  in  his  memory;  and  when  in  after  years  he 
was  writing  "  Paradise  Lost  "  the  recollection  of  these  heroic  figures  of 
Bible  story  as  painted  on  the  walls  of  the  Vatican  may  have  helped  to 


182  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

stimulate  his  powerful  imagination.  After  a  year  abroad,  on  learning 
of  disturbances  in  England,  he  relinquished  his  plan  to  visit  Greece 
and  decided  to  return  to  his  own  land.  He  says:  "  I  considered  it 
dishonorable  to  be  enjoying  myself  at  my  ease  in  foreign  lands,  while 
my  countrymen  were  striking  a  blow  for  freedom."  He  took  lodgings 
in  London,  but  his  collection  of  books,  largely  augmented  by  those  he 
had  acquired  in  Italy,  required  more  space  than  lodgings  aL'orded. 
He  therefore  took  a  quiet  house  in  Aldersgate,  on  the  edge  of  the  town, 
and  for  a  time  occupied  himself  with  tutoring  his  two  nephews  and 
several  other  boys.  Milton  felt  dissa*tisfaction  with  the  educational 
system  then  employed,  and  was  confident  of  his  own  ability  greatly  to 
improve  upon  it.  He,  in  common  with  many  would-be  educators,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  fell  into  the  error  of  believing  that "  broadening  " 
the  pupils'  outlook  is  the  panacea  for  educational  ills — that  the  giving 
of  much  and  varied  useful  knowledge  will  bring  desired  results;  and  in 
his  inexperience  he  did  not  know  that  such  a  process  confuses  and 
stultifies  the  youthful  mind.  Although  his  method  certainly  produced 
poor  results  in  the  case  of  his  two  nephews,  who  became  men  of  very 
ordinary  attainments  and  understanding,  he  has  given  us,  in  his 
"  Tractate  on  Education,"  a  definition  of  the  term  "  education  "  which 
could  hardly  be  bettered:  "  I  call  a  complete  and  generous  education 
that  which  fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skillfully,  and  magnanimously 
all  the  offices,  both  public  and  private,  of  peace  and  war." 

In  1643,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  Milton  married  Mary  Powell. 
The  marriage  was  not  happy.  Within  a  month  Milton's  bride  went 
home  to  her  parents,  no  doubt  dissatisfied  with  the  austere  sobriety 
of  Milton's  quiet  household,  which  offered  sufficient  contrast  to  the 
gayety  of  the  cavalier  society  to  which  she  had  been  accustomed. 
Milton  felt  bitterly  his  wife's  desertion;  and  it  was  doubtless  this 
unhappy  experience  that  called  forth  several  pamphlets,  addressed  to 
parliament,  on  the  "  Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  Divorce,"  in  which 
he  advocated  that  under  certain  circumstances  a  husband  should  be 
legally  freed  from  an  undutiful  wife.  To  his  credit  be  it  said  that 
he  discussed  the  question  purely  from  the  academic  point  of  view: 
there  is  in  them  not  a  sentence  of  personal  complaint,  though  they 
were  wrung  from  the  torture  of  his  soul.    At  the  end  of  two  years. 


JOHN  MILTON  183 

however,  his  young  wife,  then  only  nineteen,  returned  and  begged 
forgiveness.  Milton  not  only  received  the  penitent,  but  for  some 
time  immediately  following  sheltered  her  family,  driven  from  their 
home  by  the  successes  of  the  Roundheads  in  the  Civil  War.  Mary 
Powell  Milton  died  in  1653,  leaving  three  daughters.  In  1652 
Milton  had  become  blind.  A  sightless  man  with  three  little  girls 
to  care  for  needed  a  wife.  In  1656  Milton  married  Katharine  Wood- 
cock, who  lived  but  little  more  than  a  year  after  her  marriage.  For 
seven  years  after  the  death  of  his  second  wife  Milton  lived  with  his 
three  daughters,  whom  he  trained  to  read  to  him  in  Latin,  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  several  modern  European  languages,  although  they 
understood  not  a  word  of  what  they  thus  read.  What  we  know  of 
Milton's  relations  with  his  daughters  is  not  pleasant.  They  seem  to 
have  been  undutiful  and  unwilling  to  serve  their  father  in  his  mis- 
fortune. For  this  lack  of  daughterly  affection  and  sympathy  Milton 
is  perhaps  wholly  to  blame.  He  had  denied  education  to  his  daugh- 
ters; had  their  minds  been  trained  they  might  have  sympathized 
with  their  father's  tastes  and  aims,  and  had  they  been  able  to  read 
with  intelligence  and  understanding  might  have  found  a  filial  joy  in 
what  was  an  irksome  task.  Even  Griselda  might  have  earned  an 
epithet  other  than  ''  patient  "  had  she  been  required  to  read,  parrot- 
like, page  after  page,  in  an  unknown  tongue.  Had  Milton  been 
willing  to  expend  the  same  amount  of  skill  and  effort  in  really  edu- 
cating his  daughters  that  he  must  have  spent  in  drilling  them  in  this 
purely  mechanical  exercise,  this  unlovely  story  of  them  could  never 
have  been  told.  In  1663  Milton  married  Elizabeth  Minshull,  a  capa- 
ble housewife,  who  venerated  her  husband  and  devoted  herself  to  his 
personal  comfort. 

We  have  noted  that  after  Milton's  return  in  1639  from  his  conti- 
nental tour  he  was  for  a  time  occupied  chiefly  as  tutor.  Although  he 
had  returned  to  England  because  of  the  conflict  of  principles  then 
raging,  he  did  not  plunge  rashly  into  the  fray;  he  was,  however, 
occupied  in  controversy.  He  said:  "  There  are  three  species  of 
liberty  which  are  essential  to  the  happiness  of  social  life — religious, 
domestic,  and  civil."  He  dealt  hard  blows  in  defense  of  each  of  these. 
In  the  twenty  years  between  1640  and  1660  Milton  wrote  several 


184  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

pamphlets  on  religious  freedom.  In  1646,  after  a  four  years'  struggle 
between  the  Royalists  and  the  Parliamentary  party,  the  victory  lay 
decidedly  with  the  latter.  The  victors  divided  into  two  factions,  one 
standing  for  a  strict  national  church,  Presbyterian  instead  of  Epis- 
copal, and  intolerant  of  all  dissenters,  the  other  standing  for  religious 
liberty;  it  is  characteristic  of  Milton  that  he  aligned  himself  with  the 
latter  faction.  His  "  Tractate  on  Education,"  his  several  pamphlets 
on  divorce,  and  the  "  Areopagitica,"  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  free 
utterance,  are  his  chief  contributions  to  social  liberty.  The  "Areopagi- 
tica "  is  probably  more  widely  read  to-daylHahTny  other  of  Milton's 
prose  works;  it  is  a  strong  expostulation  against  a  law  then  existent 
which  required  that  nothing  be  published  which  had  not  first  received 
the  approval  of  a  censor  appointed  by  the  king.  One  phrase — 
"  as  good  almost  kill  a  man  as  kill  a  good  book  " — has  all  but  become 
a  proverb.  Of  Milton's  pamphlets  on  civil  liberty  many  were  written 
during  these  years  of  strife;  the  last  of  these  we  shall  speak  of  later. 
When,  in  1649,  after  the  execution  of  Charles  I  the  Commonwealth 
under  Cromwell  was  established,  Milton  was  chosen  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Tongues.  He  was  by  nature  and  education  fitted  for  the 
work.  The  duties  of  his  office  included  not  only  the  conduct  of  all 
the  government's  foreign  correspondence,  but  also  the  defense  of  its 
principles  by  the  mightier  pen,  now  that  the  sword  had  accomplished 
its  work.  At  the  instigation  of  Charles  H  a  Dutch  scholar,  Salmasius, 
had  written  in  Latin  an  indictment  of  the  newly  established  govern- 
ment under  the  title  "  Defensio  Regia."  In  the  seventeenth  century 
Latin  would  have  been  read  throughout  Europe  by  the  widest  and 
most  influential  circles  of  readers.  The  Royalist  enemies  of  the  new 
government  were  overjoyed  at  this  attack  upon  it  and  upon  its 
leaders;  the  Council  of  State  in  some  alarm  ordered  that  "  Mr.  Milton 
do  prepare  something  in  answer  to  the  book  of  Salmasius."  In  1651 
appeared  Milton's  answer,  "  Pro  Populo  Anglicano  Defensio  ";  but 
the  price  that  he  paid  was  his  eyesight.  Milton's  frequent  headaches 
and  his  habit  of  late  study  had  greatly  impaired  his  eyes;  about  1650 
the  sight  of  his  left  eye  was  gone.  His  physician  warned  him  that  it 
would  be  unsafe  to  overuse  his  right  eye;  but  these  are  Milton's  words: 
"  The  choice  lay  before  me,  between  the  dereliction  of  a  supreme  duty 


JOHN  MILTON  185 

and  loss  of  eyesight.  ...  I  could  not  but  obey  that  inward 
monitor  that  spake  to  me  from  heaven.  I  considered  with  myself 
that  many  had  purchased  less  good  with  worse  ill,  as  they  who  give 
their  Hves  to  reap  only  glory,  and  I  therefore  concluded  to  employ 
the  little  remaining  eyesight  I  was  to  enjoy  in  doing  this,  the  greatest 
service  to  the  common  weal  it  was  in  my  power  to  render."  The  loss 
of  sight  is  a  great  loss  to  anyone,  but  how  much  greater  to  the  scholar 
than  to  other  men!  He  loses  not  only  the  joy  of  looking  forth  with 
gladness  upon  the  loveliness  of  earth,  but  must  also  in  large  measure 
yield  the  supreme  solace  of  his  life, — books, — the  direct  contact  and 
intercourse  with  the  best  minds  of  all  time!  When  we  think  of  this 
gifted  man,  at  the  age  of  forty-three, — the  age  when  his  powers  were 
at  their  best  and  highest, — this  man  who  knew  himself  destined  for 
high  and  noble  things, — his  great  work,  the  accomplishment  of  which 
he  had  planned  in  his  youth,  and  for  which  he  had  been  consciously 
training  and  ripening  his  powers,  as  yet  almost  untouched, — when  we 
think  of  this  man  nobly  sacrificing  his  precious  gift  of  sight  for  the 
sake  of  defending  his  country's  liberty, 

"  Dull  must  we  be  of  soul  who  can  pass  by 
A  sight  so  touching  in  its  majesty," 

base  indeed  must  we  be  if  we  do  not  shake  off  our  pettiness  and  falsity, 

and  feel  strongly  the  urging  of  our  nobler  promptings! 

To  what  degree  Milton  prized  the  blessing  of  sight  we  may  realize 

from  reading  the  splendid  lyric  outburst  at  the  beginning  of  Book  III 

of  "  Paradise  Lost  ": 

"  Hail,  holy  Light !     Offspring  of  Heaven  first-born  !  " 

It  would  be  well  to  compare  the  first  fifty  lines  of  Book  III  with  the 

"  Sonnet  on  his  Blindness."     What  pathos!     But  not  a  syllable  of 

unmanly  complaint: 

"  Thus  with  the  year 
Seasons  return,  but  not  to  me  returns 
Day,  or  the  sweet  approach  of  even  or  morn, 
Or  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  summer's  rose. 
Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine ; 
But  cloud  instead,  and  ever-during  dark 
Surrounds  me,  from  the  cheerful  ways  of  men 
Cut  off,  and  for  the  book  of  knowledge  fair 
Presented  with  an  universal  blank 
Of  nature's  works  to  me  expunged  and  rased. 
And  wisdom  at  one  entrance  quite  shut  out." 


186  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Perhaps  never  has  resignation  to  the  will  of  a  higher  power  been  more 
nobly  expressed  than  in  the  "  Sonnet  on  his  Blindness  ": 

"  When  I  consider  how  my  light  is  spent 
Ere  half  my  days,  in  this  dark  world  and  wide, 
And  that  same  talent,  which  is  death  to  hide 
Lodged  with  me  useless,  though  my  soul  more  bent 
To  serve  therewith  my  Maker,  and  present 
My  true  account,  lest  he,  returning,  chide; 
Doth  God  exact  day-labour,  light  denied, 
I  fondly  ask?    But  Patience,  to  prevent 
That  murmur,  soon  replies :  God  doth  not  need  , 

Either  man's  work  or  his  own  gifts;  who  best 
Bear  his  mild  yoke,  they  serve  him  best ;  his  state 
Is  kingly ;  thousands  at  his  bidding  speed. 
And  post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest. 
They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

With  the  aid  of  assistants  Milton  continued  his  work  as  Secretary 
of  Foreign  Tongues  throughout  Cromwell's  life,  and  throughout  the 
three  years  duringwhich  Richard  Cromwell  held  the  office  of  Protector, 
left  vacant  by  the  death  of  Oliver  in  1658.  Then  in  1660  came  the 
Restoration.  It  must  have  seemed  to  Milton  the  final  catastrophe, — 
the  end  of  that  English  civil  and  religious  liberty  which  he  had  hoped 
for  when  in  his  young  manhood  he  had  cut  short  his  continental 
tour  in  order  to  return  that  he  might  "  strike  a  blow  for  freedom." 
Charles  II  entered  London  with  every  outward  show  of  triumph;  and 
among  his  earliest  acts  was  that  of  visiting  the  severest  punishment 
upon  those  who  had  been  leaders  in  the  government  during  the  Com- 
monwealth. Milton's  friends  secreted  him  for  a  time  from  the  wrath 
of  Charles's  agents  until  the  worst  of  the  vengeful  storm  was  over; 
he  was,  however,  arrested  and  imprisoned,  but  was  shortly  set  free 
upon  payment  of  a  heavy  fine  and  the  confiscation  of  a  considerable 
proportion  of  his  small  property.  No  doubt  Milton's  blindness 
awakened  sympathy  for  him,  and  furthermore  Charles  was  reluctant 
to  draw  down  upon  himself  such  condemnation  throughout  Europe 
as  would  have  been  visited  upon  him  by  further  persecution  of  a 
scholar  of  such  reputation  and  such  wide  renown  as  Milton.  Milton 
was  blind;  he  had  been  deprived  of  the  greater  part  of  his  modest 
property ;  the  ideas  of  civil  rectitude  and  religious  freedom  for  which, 
during  twenty  years,  he  had  battled  with  all  the  strength  that  was 


JOHN  Mn.TON  187 

in  him  seemed  hopelessly  overthrown.  Under  conditions  such  as  these 
a  lesser  spirit  might  have  given  way  to  discouragement  and  despair. 
What  did  Milton?  Handicapped  though  he  was,  he  set  himself  to 
the  great  work  to  which  in  his  youth  he  had  purposed  to  devote  his 
genius, — he  would  endeavor  "  things  unattempted  yet  in  prose  or 
rhyme  ";  he  would  deal  with  the  loftiest  theme  affecting  human  life. 
The  spirit  of  consecration  with  which  Milton  set  himself  to  his  great, 
his  chosen  task,  is  shown  in  the  invocation  at  the  beginning  of 
"  Paradise  Lost  ": 

"  And  chiefly  Thou,  O  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  Thou  know'st.    Thou  from  the  first 
Wast  present,  and  with  mighty  wings  outspread, 
Dove-like  sat'st  brooding  on  the  vast  abyss, 
And  mad'st  it  pregnant :  what  in  me  is  dark 
Illumine ;  what  is  low  raise  and  support ; 
That  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument 
I  may  assert  eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men."  (1.  17-26) 

Some  tentative  beginnings  of  "  Paradise  Lost  "  had  earlier  been 
made.  Milton  had  considered  various  themes,  among  them  the  story  of 
King  Arthur  and  his  knights.  After  a  little,  however,  his  thought  fo- 
cussed  on  the  story  of  ''man's  first  disobedience."  We  of  to-day  can 
but  dimly  apprehend  how  in  that  age  of  religious  controversy  religion 
and  theology  were  interwoven  in  the  very  fibre  of  men's  daily  lives. 
The  easy-going  tolerance  of  our  day  is  perhaps  too  often  the  offspring 
of  indifference,  rather  than  of  large-mindedness.  But  to  the  seven- 
teenth century  Puritan  the  salvation  of  his  soul  was  the  paramount 
question.  His  salvation  depended  upon  belief  in  true  doctrine;  false 
doctrijiewas  therefore  the  greatest  of  evils.  The  Bible  was  the  source 
of  religious  truth;  so  he  obeyed  the  injunction  to  "  search  the 
Scriptures."  It  would  no  doubt  have  appeared  utterly  incredible  to 
Milton  that  in  time  to  come  these  matters,  so  vital  to  those  "  stalwart 
old  iconoclasts,"  who  were  ready  to  fight  or  to  die  for  their  faith, 
would  ever  become  of  even  less  than  secondary  interest!  In  his 
choice  of  a  subject,  then,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  question  which 
in  his  time  overshadowed  all  others  in  men's  minds,  and  which,  as  he 
thought,  could  never  diminish  in  interest  so  long  as  mankind  should 


188 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


endure.  He  at  first  planned  to  treat  this  theme  in  dramatic  form 
as  a  sort  of  stupendous  Miracle  Play.  But,  owing  partly  to  the 
increasing  Puritan  rigor  against  plays  and  all  things  theatrical,  and 
partly,  doubtless,  to  his  own  better  understanding  of  his  own  capa- 
bilities, Milton  chose  the  epic  as  the  vehicle  of  his  thought.  It  is  well 
that  he  so  chose.  Milton  had  not  great  dramatic  power;  the  super- 
natural beings  of  his  story  could  not  have  been  represented  by  mortals 


^m^^f^lfMimmmm 


•,.^7^bxr^4\ 


PARAD I  SE 

LOSX 


BOOK   I. 


F    Mans    Firft    Difobedience ,     and 
the   Fruit 
Of  that  Forbidden  Tree,    whofe 

mortal   taft 
Brought  Death  into   the  World  > 
and  all  our  woe. 
With  lofs  of  Eden,  till  one  greater  Man 
Reltore  us,  and  regain  theblifsful  Seat, 
Sing  Heav'nly  Mufe,  that  on  the  fccret  top 
Of   OreK   or  of  Stnjr,  didft  infpire 
That  Shepherd.who  firft  taught  the  chofen  Seed, 
In  the  Beginning  how  the  Hcav'ns  and  Earth 
Rofe  out  of  Chaor  :  Or  if  Sion  Hill 
Delight  thee  more,  and  S//i)«'/ Brook  that  flow'd 
Faft  by  the  Oracle  of  Cod  i  I  thence 
Invoke  ihy  aid  to  my  adventrous  Song, 
That  with  r>o  middle  flight  intends  to  foar 

A  Above 


Facsimile  of  the  first  page  of  the  first  edition  of  "Paradise  Lost"(i667) 

without  inconceivable  loss;  the  enginery  and  mechanism  needed  for 
an  adequate  representation  would  have  overtaxed  the  resources  of 
even  the  modern  stage;  but,  more  than  all,  this  treatment  would  have 
precluded  those  magnificent  lyric  outbursts  which  are  not  the  least  of 
the  glories  of  "  Paradise  Lost." 

This  Puritan  epic,  begun  in  1658  and  completed  in  1665,  brought 


JOHN  MILTON  189 

its  author  £10.  Kipling,  for  the  "  Female  of  the  Species,"  was  paid 
$25,000.  "  Paradise  Lost  "  comprises  twelve  books,  setting  forth  the 
rebellion  of  Satan  and  the  rebel  angels,  their  fall  from  Heaven,  their 
plan  to  seduce  God's  creatures,  Adam  and  Eve,  the  temptation,  the  fall, 
the  punishment,  the  promise  of  redemption,  and  the  banishment  of 
Adam  and  Eve  from  Paradise.  It  bodies  forth  the  Calvinistic  theol- 
ogy; of  this  there  is  no  need  to  speak;  it  is  the  thing  in  the  poem  of 
least  value.  But  of  the  lofty  ideality,  the  sustained  level  of  exaltation, 
the  wondrous  sweep  and  power  of  imagination,  the  surpassing  beauty 
of  passage  after  passage,  no  notion  can  be  conveyed.  In  rare  instances 
another  poet  has  reached  such  sublime  heights;  no  other,  not  even 
the  greatest  of  them  all,  Shakespeare,  has  ever  equaled  the  sustained 
flight.  Milton  neither  underestimated  the  grandeur  and  sublimity 
of  his  theme  nor  overestimated  his  own  powers  when  he  essayed  the 

"  adventurous  song 
That  with   no   middle   flight   intends   to    soar 
Above  the  Aonian  mount." 

His  genius  was  adequate  to  treat  in  fitting  manner,  without  once 
belittling  it,  the  most  stupendous  theme  conceivable  by  the  brain  and 
soul  of  man.  ''Paradise  Lost"  is  the  great  expression  of  a  master  spirit; 
Milton  was  Emerson's  ideal  scholar,  "  Man  thinking."  He  knew  the 
best  in  the  world's  literatures;  yet  this  vast  learning  never  engulfed 
him,  but  served  only  to  strengthen  and  enrich  his  own  genius,  dom- 
inant always.  Of  him  Doctor  Channing  says  truly,  "  Never  was  there 
a  more  unconfined  mind."  Not  even  Kit  Marlowe  ever  conceived 
such  towering,  consummate  passion  as  impels  the  Satan  of  Milton's 
creation, — such  majesty  of  pride,  such  indomitable  will: 

"  What  though  the  field  be  lost  ? 
All  is  not  lost;  the  unconquerable  will, 
And  study  of  revenge,  immortal  hate, 
And  courage  never  to  submit  or  yield." 

(Book  I,  1.  105-108) 
y  "  Farewell  happy  fields         / 

Where  joy  /orever  dw'^lls  !    Hail  horrers  !  hail 
Infernal  w6rld,  aud  tnou,  p;-ofoundes.t  Hell, 
Receive  thy  new  possessor  !  cme  w,ho  bf-ings 
A  mind  not  to  be  changed  by  place  or  time  : 
The  mind  is  its  own  place,  and  in  itself 
Can  make  a  Heaven  of  Hell,  a  Hell  of  Heaven. 
What  matter  where,  if  I  be  still  the  same?  " 

(Book  I,  1.  251-257) 


190  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

The  present  European  war  (1916)  offers  the  nearest  actual  paralle 
since  authentic  history  began  for  such  tremendous  conflict  as  Milton 
describes  in  Book  I, — such  vast  forces  employed  to  work  devastation 
and  torture — read  it  and  be  convinced  that  "  War  is  Hell." 

"  Him  the  Almighty  Power 
Hurled  headlong  flaming  from  the  ethereal  sky, 
Witli  hideous  ruin  and  combustion." 

(Book  I,  1.  44-47) 
"  A  dungeon  horrible  on  all  sides  round 
As  one  great  furnace  flamed,  yet  from  those  flames 
No  light,  but  rather  darkness  visible 
Served  only  to  discover  sights  of  woe, 
Regions  of  sorrow,  doleful  shades." 

(Book  I,  1.  61-65) 
—  "c;hill 
Torn  from  Pelorus,  or  the  shattered  side 
Of  thundering  ^tna,  whose  combustible 
And  fuel'd  entrails  thence  conceiving  fire, 
Sublimed  with  mineral  fury,  aid  the  winds, 
And  leave  a  singed  bottom,  all  involved 
With  stench  and  smoke." 

(Book  I,  1.  2^2-2^9) 

But  let  us  flee  from  the  infernal  world  to  Paradise, — a  region  as 
lovely  as  Hell  is  terrible — wonderful  in  two-fold  degree  when  viewed 
as  a  creation  of  the  same  mind: 

"P.ut  rather  to  tell  how,  if  art  could  tell. 
How  from  that  sapphire  fount  the  crisped  brooks, 
Rolling  on  orient  pearl  and  sands  of  gold, 
With  mazy  error  under  pendent  shades 
Ran  nectar. 

***** 
Groves  whose  rich  trees  wept  odorous  gums  and  balm. 
Others  whose  fruit  burnished  with  golden  rind. 
Hung  amiable  (Hesperian  fables  true. 
If  true,  here  only),  and  of  delicious  taste. 
Betwixt  them  lawns,  or  level  downs,  and  flocks 
Grazing  the  tender  herb,  were  interposed, 
Or  palmy  hillock;  or  the  flowery  lap 
Of  some  irriguous  valley  spread  her  store,      . 
Flowers  of  all  hue,  and  without  thorn  the  rose." 

(Book  IV,  1.  236-256) 
"  Now  came  still  evening  on,  and  twilight  gray 
Had  in  her  sober  livery  all  things  clad  : 
Silence  accompanied  ;  for  beast  and  bird, 
They  to  their  grassy  couch,  these  to  'heir  nests 
Were  slunk,  all  but  tlie  wakeful  nightingale  ; 
She  all  night  long  her  amorous  descant  sung; 


JOHN  MILTON  191 

r  Silence  was  pleased  :  now  glowed  the  firmament 

With  living  sapphires:  Hesperus,  that  led 
The  starry  host,  rode  brightest,  till  the  moon. 
Rising  in  clouded  majesty,  at  length, 
Apparent  queen,  unveiled  her  peerless  light, 
And  o'er  the  dark  her  silver  mantle  threw." 

(Book  IV,  1.  598-610) 

Four  years  after  the  publication  of  ''  Paradise  Lost  "  appeared 
"  Paradise  Regained."  It  is  said  to  have  been  composed  as  the  re- 
sult of  a  train  of  thought  suggested  by  a  question  of  Milton's  friend, 
Thomas  Ellwood:  "  Thou  hast  said  much  of  '  Paradise  Lost,'  but  what 
hast  thou  to  say  of '  Paradise  Found  '?  "  The  poem  is  an  expansion 
of  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  gospel  according  to  Saint  Matthew;  the 
theme  is  Christ's  temptation  in  the  wilderness,  and,  through  the  con- 
founding of  Satan,  the  redemption  of  mankind.  The  poem  com- 
prises four  books,  in  all  but  little  more  than  two  thousand  lines.  It  is 
dignified  and  beautiful,  but  in  no  way  equal  in  interest  to  "  Paradise 
Lost."  "Samson  Agonistes  "  (the  struggler),  published  the  same 
year,  1671,  is  a  dramatic  poem  after  the  Greek  manner,  in  which  Mil- 
ton employs  the  Chorus,  and  therefore  necessarily  varies  the  verse 
form.  The  theme  greatly  attracted  Milton — Samson,  blind,  shorn  of 
his  strength,  exclaims  in  bitterness — 

"  O  dark,  dark,  dark,  amid  the  blaze  of  noon, 
Irrecoverably  dark,  total  eclipse 
Without  all  hope  of  day  !  " 

Although  the  poem  is  noticeably  lacking  in  the  superb  figures  so 
characteristic  of  Milton,  the  theme  is  nobly  treated. 

A  word  should  be  said  as  to  Milton's  power  in  versification.  Note 
"  L'Allegro  "  and  "  II  Penseroso."  In  both  poems,  after  the  first  ten 
lines,  bidding  dismissal  in  the  one  case  to  Melancholy,  in  the  other  to 
"  vain  deluding  Joys,"  the  tetrameter  couplet  is  used  throughout,  but 
with  what  a  difference!  The  same  meter  which  in  '^L'Allegro  "  floats 
like  thistle-down: 

"  Come,  and  trip  it  as  you  go 
On  the  light,  fantastic  toe," 

moves  ''  sober,  steadfast,  and  demure  "  through  the  verses  of  "  II  Pen- 
seroso." Milton's  blank  verse  is  unrivalled  for  harmony  and  expres- 
sive power.     As  the  marble  was  said  to  grow  flexible  under  the  hand 


192  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

of  Michael  Angelo,  Milton  bends  our  rugged  English  and  subdues 

it  to  his  will,  making  it  speak  "  with  many  and  wonderful  voices." 

Milton  is  serious,  but  never  gloomy.     The  times  in  which  he  lived 

were  too  earnest  and  too  eventful  for  gayety  and  sportiveness.     But 

he  is  healthy-minded  and  vigorous;  there  is  nothing  morbid, — never  is 

the  native  hue  "  sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought."    The 

sonnet,  that  key  with  which  Shakespeare  unlocked  his  heart,  in 

Milton's  hand 

— "  became  a  trumpet,  whence  he  blew 
Soul-animating    strains — alas,    too    few  !  " 

Milton's  last  years  were  spent  quietly  at  his  home  in  London, 
Thither  came  many  foreign  visitors  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  great 
scholar  who  had  defeated  Salmasius.  He  died  November  8,  1674, 
and  was  buried  at  St.  Giles,  London.     So  was  silenced  forever  that 

voice 

— "  whose  sound  was  like  the  sea, 
Pure  as  the  naked  heavens,  majestic,  free." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  did  Milton  have  in  common  with  the  greatest  of  the  Elizabethans? 

2.  Compare  Milton's  schooling  with  that  of  Shakespeare  as  we  know  it. 

3.  What  was  Milton's  special  source  of  inspiration? 

4.  How  does  the  spirit  of  "  L'AUegro  "  and  "  II  Penseroso  "  differ  from 

that  of  his  other  works?     How  do  you  account  for  this? 

5.  What  were  the  principal  features  of  a  "Masque"?     In   what  great 

English  novel  does  a  Masque  play  an  important  part? 

6.  Give  an  account  of  Milton's  career  after  graduating  from  Cambridge, 

laying  special  emphasis  on  the  important  political  events  of  the  period. 

7.  Would  you  have  enjoyed  having  Milton  as  a  school  teacher?    What  do 

you  think  of  Milton  as  a  man? 

8.  In  what  way  does  "  Paradise  Lost"  reflect  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which 

it  was  written  ? 

9.  Name  six  poems  known  as  Epics. 

10.  What  are  the  essential  qualities  of  "Paradise  Lost"? 

Suggested  Readings. — Read  "  II  Penseroso,"  "  L'AUegro,"  "  Comus," 
"Lycidas  "  without  thought  of  critical  annotation  but  with  an  honest  in- 
tention of  enjoyment, — also  the  first  book  of  "  Paradise  Lost."  "Milton" 
by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  a  valuable  critical  work.  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on 
Milton  "  contains  a  brilliant  analysis  of  his  politics  and  his  poetry. 


^^. 


TyiA^^ijrn,^ 


CHAPTER  XV 
JOHN  BUNYAN  (1628-1688) 

"  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  is  perhaps  the  only  liook  about  which,  after 
the  lapse  of  a  hundred  years,  the  educated  minority  has  come  over  to  the 
opinion  of  the  common  people." — Macaitlay. 

"  The  Spenser  of  the  people." — D' Israeli. 

"  Bunyan's  work  in  the  poetry  of  Y'ur'Wdmsm." ^Edinburgh  Review. 

John  Bunyan  is  one  of  the  great  souls  of  earth.  He  was  born 
at  Elstow,  a  small  village  of  Bedfordshire.  His  origin  was  humble 
and  his  parents  were  poor.  He  had  but  slight  schooling,  and  when 
seventeen  joined  the  army.  It  is  not  known  whether  he  fought  on 
the  side  of  the  Royalists  or  of  the  Parliamentarians;  he  enhsted 
not  from  sympathy  with  either  cause,  but  because  of  vexation  with 
his  father  for  bringing  into  the  house  an  unwelcome  stepmother. 
While  still  in  his  teens  he  married  a  girl  as  poor  as  himself,  but  "  a 
godly  person,"  who  had  been  reared  in  piety,  and  whose  marriage 
dowry,  two  worn  and  well-thumbed  religious  books,  served  to  quicken 
Bunyan  in  matters  spiritual.  His  sensitive  conscience  thoroughly 
aroused,  he  never,  throughout  his  life,  lapsed  into  moral  and  spiritual 
indifference.  In  "  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners,"  pub- 
lished in  1666,  he  tells  us  minutely  of  his  religious  experiences.  He 
was,  of  course,  largely  under  the  influences  of  Puritan  thought  and  of 
Puritan  moral  standards;  his  powerful  imagination,  stimulated  by  a 
supersensitive  conscience,  magnified  his  youthful  peccadilloes,  which 
at  the  worst  seem  to  have  been  mischievously  ringing  bells  to  rouse 
the  neighborhood,  dancing,  or  playing  on  the  bowling  green  on  Sunday, 
into  crimes  of  great  enormity.  He  became  horror-struck  at  the  recol- 
lection of  his  sins;  he  felt  that  for  him  there  could  be  no  hope  of 
salvation.  Again  and  again  doubts  assailed  him;  again  and  again 
the  tempter  urged  him  to  abjure  and  to  defy  God;  he  struggled  with 
the  inner  light  of  conscience  as  Jacob  wrestled  with  the  angel,  and  at 
last  won  the  blessing,  his  soul's  peace. 

In  his  own  day  Bunj^an  was  thought  of  not  as  a  writer,  but  as  a 
13  193 


194 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


preacher.  He  maintained  himself  and  his  family  by  his  trade  as  a 
brazier  or  tinker,  the  trade  he  had  learned  from  his  father.  But  he 
had  a  gift  in  speech,  and  he  had  passed  through  a  profound  religious 
experience  which  clarified  his  vision  in  spiritual  things.     From  the 


JOHN  BUNYAN 
1628— 1688 
From  a  drawing  by  R^bt-rt  White  (1645-1703) 

little  Baptist  church  in  Bedford  which  he  attended  he  was  "  called  " 
to  preach.  He  was  modest  as  to  his  own  powers.  But  he  had  a 
message — the  message  of  one  who  had  passed  through  Doubting  Castle 


JOHN  BUNYAN  195 

and  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  to  view  the  Delectable  Mountains 
and  the  City  of  All  Delight.  His  creed  was  simple,  but  he  believed  it 
with  his  whole  heart;  it  was  the  creed  of  Luther,  and  of  John  Knox. 
He  believed  that  Protestant  Christianity  was  true,  and  that  mankind 
were  perishing  unless  they  saw  it  to  be  true.    He  says:  "  I  preached 


THE 

Pilgrim's  Progrefs 

FROM 

THIS    WORLD, 

TO 

That  which  is  to  come : 

Delivered  under  the  Similitude  of  a 

DREAM 

Wherein  is  Difcovered , 

The  manner  of  hisfettingout, 

HisDangerousJourney;  Andfafe 

Arrival  at  the  Defired  Countrey. 

/  have  ufed  Similitudes^  Hof.  12.  10. 


By  Jofm  Bunyan. 


llicenf£tianli(!Enti-etincco?tiinQ;to€'jt)er. 


LONDON, 

Printed  forNath.  Ponder  at  the  Peacock 
in  the  Poultrey  near  Cornhil^  1678. 


Facsimile  of  title-page  of  first  edition    (1678)  of  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress" 

what  I  felt  ...  I  went  myself  in  chains  to  preach  to  them  in 
chains,  and  carried  that  fire  in  my  own  conscience  that  I  persuaded 
them  to  beware  of.  I  have  gone  full  of  guilt  and  terror  to  the  pulpit 
door;  God  carried  me  on  with  a  strong  hand,  for  neither  guilt  nor  hell 


196  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

could  take  me  off."  Not  another  man  in  the  United  Kingdom  could 
speak  with  such  power.  Bunyan  preached  in  stables  or  in  open  fields, 
in  any  place  where  an  audience  could  be  gathered  to  hear  him. 
He  visited  nearby  towns,  and  his  fame  spread.  In  his  later  ministry 
more  than  twelve  hundred  London  working  people  gathered  in  the 
cold  and  dark  of  an  early  winter  morning  to  hear  him  before  going 
to  their  day's  labor. 

Shortly  after  the  accession  of  Charles  II  in  1660  an  act  against 
non-conformists  was  revived  which  forbade  religious  meetings  of  any 
sect  except  the  established  church.  Under  this  act  Bunyan  was 
arrested  and  brought  to  court.  It  was  evident  that  the  judge  who 
presided  at  the  trial  wished  if  posb'ble  to  avoid  bringing  him  to  prison. 
He  was  told  that  he  might  go  free  if  he  would  promise  to  cease  his 
preaching.  This  promise  Bunyan  refused  to  give.  He  was  led  away 
to  Bedford  jail,  where  he  was  held  twelve  years.  Here  he  received 
no  harsh  treatment ;  he  was  allowed  to  see  his  friends  and  sometimes 
to  go  forth  about  the  town.  While  in  jail  he  made  shoe-laces,  by  the 
sale  of  which  he  supported  his  family.  The  retirement  of  his  life  in 
prison  was  favorable  to  quiet  thought;  Bunyan  heard  a  voice  which 
said,  "  Look  into  thy  heart  and  write."  This  gifted  man  while  a 
prisoner  in  Bedford  jail  wrote  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  the  best  prose 
allegory  ever  written  in  English,  and  one  of  the  three  greatest  allego- 
ries ever  written  in  any  language.  As  an  allegory  it  may  be  ranked 
with  Spenser's  "  Faery  Queen "  and  Dante's  "  Divine  Comedy," 
and  with  no  fourth.  Thousands  of  people,  both  the  learned  and  the 
unlettered,  have  read  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  with  keen  delight.  Bun- 
yan's  meaning  is  clear  even  to  the  wayfaring  man;  his  characters  are 
not  cold  abstractions,  but  real,  vital  beings;  they  are  ourselves  pro- 
jected by  his  powerful  and  penetrating  imagination.  The  aptly 
chosen  names  suggest  the  reality  of  the  characters  themselves:  Lord 
Hategood,  Mr.  Talkative  (''  the  son  of  Saywell;  he  dwelt  in  Prating 
Row  "),  Mr.  Feeblemind,  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman.  We  see  Bunyan's 
humor,  and  his  power  in  satire.  So  universal  is  the  human  appeal 
of  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  that  it  has  been  translated  into  seventy-five 
different  languages  or  dialects.  It  is  noticeably  free  from  sectarian 
bias;  although  written  by  a  strong  adherent  of  Protestantism,  by  the 


JOHN  BUNYAN  197 

excision  of  a  few  short  passages  it  has  been  made  wholly  acceptable 
in  countries  where  the  Roman  Catholic  is  the  prevailing  faith. 

"  Grace  Abounding,"  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  "  The  Holy  War," 
"  The  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman,"  together  with  many  sermons 
and  pamphlets,  make  up  the  sum  of  Bunyan's  writings.  He  passed 
the  last  sixteen  years  of  his  life  in  preaching,  in  visiting  those  sick  or 
in  trouble,  in  all  ways  seeking  to  do  the  work  of  his  Master.  He  died 
in  1688  from  a  cold  which  came  from  exposure  when  he  was  on  such 
an  errand  of  mercy. 

How  could  an  unlettered  tinker  have  been  the  author  of  such  a 
masterpiece  as  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "?  In  this,  as  in  all  his  writings,^ 
Bunyan's  style  is  simple,  direct,  forceful.  His  powerful  imagination 
was  ballasted  by  good  common  sense.  His  soul  had  been  torn  by  - 
spiritual  conflict ;  he  felt  keenly.  He  knew  his  Bible  almost  by  heart ; 
and  the  purity  and  beauty  of  his  diction  came  direct  from  that  Book 
of  books.    In  simple  sincerity  he  wrought  the  best  that  he  knew. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Where  lies  Bedfordshire  on  the  outline  map? 

2.  What  is  meant  by  a  "religious  experience"? 

3.  Do  you  think  Bunyan  sincere? 

4.  In  a  three-minute  talk  compare   Bunyan   with   any   modern   revivalist 

whom  you  have  heard. 

5.  What  was  a  "non-conformist"?     (Refer  to  any  history  of  England.) 

6.  What    sort   of   book    is    "Pilgrim's    Progress"?      Is    it    for    children, 

for  adults,  or  for  both?    Will  everyone  derive  a  similar  sort  of  satis- 
faction from  it? 

7.  Give  an  outline  of   Bunyan's   life.     What   do  you  know  of   Bunyan's 

style? 

8.  What  were  the  qualities  that  marked   Bunyan's  genius? 

9.  Tell  what  you  know  of  the  early  education   of   Bunyan   and  any  six 

other  men  whose  work  we  have  been  considering. 
10.  Write  a  five-hundred-word  essay  upon  the  various  aspects  of  Puritan 
literature. 

Suggested  Readings.^Read  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress "  even  if  it  is 
for  the  second  time.  J.  A.  Fronde's  "  Bunyan  "  in  the  English  Men  of 
Letters  Series  is  a  convenient  and  excellent  study.  Macaulay's  "  Essay 
on  Bunyan  "  is  shorter,  clearer,  and  more  readable. 


^^^h^     Ju:t4^^iiiyt^ 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   RESTORATION    (1660-1685) 

"The  author  of  '  Hudibras,"  the  most  brilUant  satirical  genius  our 
country  has  ever  produced." — Chambers'  liiicyclopcdia. 

"  Nature  and  Nature's  laws  lay  hid  in  night: 
God    said   '  Let   Newton   lie.'   and   all   was   light." 

—Pope. 
"  Locke's   writings   have   diffused  throughout   the   civilized   world  the 
love  of  civil  liberty." — Edinburgh  Review. 

When,  in  1660,  the  Stuart  kings  were  restored  to  the  throne  of 
England,  the  nation  was  sick  of  the  severity  of  the  Puritans,  The 
pendulum  swung  as  far  in  the  direction  of  license  as  it  had  pre- 
viously gone  in  that  of  restraint.  Macaulay  describes  in  his  own 
vigorous  fashion  what  happened: 

"  Then  came  those  days,  never  to  be  recalled  without  a  blush, 
the  days  of  servitude  without  loyalty  and  sensuality  without  love,  of 
dwarfish  talents  and  gigantic  vices,  the  paradise  of  cold  hearts  and 
narrow  minds,  the  golden  age  of  the  coward,  the  bigot,  and  the  slave. 
The  King  cringed  to  his  rival  that  he  might  trample  on  his  people, 
sank  into  a  viceroy  of  France,  and  pocketed,  with  complacent  infamy, 
her  degrading  insults  and  her  still  more  degrading  gold.  The  govern- 
ment had  just  enough  ability  to  deceive  and  just  enough  religion 
to  persecute.  The  principles  of  liberty  were  the  scoff  of  every  grin- 
ning courtier  and  the  Anathema  Maranatha  of  every  fawning  dean. 
In  every  high  place  worship  was  paid  to  Charles  and  James,  Belial 
and  Moloch;  and  England  propitiated  those  obscene  and  cruel  idols 
with  the  blood  of  her  best  and  bravest  children.  Crime  succeeded  to 
crime  and  disgrace  to  disgrace  till  the  race  accursed  of  God  and  man 
was  a  second  time  driven  forth  to  wander  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
and  to  be  a  by-word  and  a  shaking  of  the  head  to  the  nations." 

In  plain  English,  Charles  II  (1660-1685)  was  idle,  careless,  and 
dissipated;  his  successor,  James  II  (1685-1688),  was  narrow,  cruel, 
and  unpopular;  and  both  endeavored  to  subvert  the  liberty  of  the 

198 


THE  RESTORATION  199 

people.  Though  the  King  of  England  is  the  official  head  of  the 
English  church,  both  were  also  Catholics,  Charles  secretly  and 
James  openly.  Matters  came  to  a  head  in  1688;  Parliament  expelled 
James;  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  was  set  up  as  king  in  his  place; 
and  the  principle  that  the  monarch  does  not  rule  by  divine  right  but 
by  the  consent  of  the  governed  was  thus  permanently  established. 

Charles  II  was  described  by  one  of  his  own  courtiers,  the  Earl  of 
Rochester  (1647-1680),  as  a  merry  monarch,  scandalous  and  poor. 
This  same  ncbleman  pinned  upon  the  king's  bedroom  door  the  fol- 
lowing epitaph: 

"  Here   lies   our   sovereign   lord,   the   King, 
Whose  word  no  man  rehes  on  ; 
He  never  says  a  foolish  thing, 
And  never  does  a  wise  one." 

"  This  is  true,"  said  the  good-humored  monarch  when  he  saw  the 
lines,  "  and  the  reason  is  that  my  words  are  my  own  and  my  acts  are 
my  ministers  '."  When  James  urged  Charles  to  guard  against  assas- 
sination, Charles  said:  "  Nobody  would  kill  me  to  make  you  king," 
The  character  of  the  ruler,  as  was  to  have  been  expected,  colored 
the  lighter  literature  of  the  time.  In  his  court  he  was  surrounded  by 
a  mob  of  gentlemen  who  wrote  with  ease.  In  his  "  Essay  on  Trans- 
lated Verse,"  one  of  these,  the  Earl  of  Roscommon  ( 1633-1684),  wrote 
at  least  one  memorable  couplet: 

"  Immodest  words  admit  of  no  defence, 
For  want  of  decency  is  want  of  sense." 

A  second  of  them,  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckinghamshire  (1649-1720), 
in  his  "  Essay  on  Poetry,"  has  these  fine  lines: 

"  Of  all  those  arts  in  which  the  wise  excel!. 
Nature's  chief  masterpiece  is  writing  well." 

"  Read  Homer  once  and  you  can  read  no  more, 
For  all  books  else  appear  so  mean,  so  poor, 
Verse  will  seem  prose ;   hut  still  persist  to   read 
And  Homer  will  be  all  the  books  you  need." 

A  third,  Sir  Charles  Sedley  (1639-1701),  produced  several  good  love 
songs.  The  Earl  of  Dorset  (1638-1706),  a  fourth,  was  the  author 
of  an  excellent  ballad,  "  To  the  Ladies  at  Home."  A  fifth,  Thomas 
D'Urfey  (1653-1723),  wrote  bad  songs  of  his  own  and  made  a  col- 


^200  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

lection  of  the  good  ones  of  other  men,  which  he  published  under  the 
title,  "  Wit  and  IVIirth,  or  Pills  to  Purge  Melancholy." 

A  greater  poet  than  any  of  these,  however,  was  Samuel  Butler 
(1612-1680),  who  obtained  little  court  favor,  though  he  set  the 
whole  world  laughing  at  the  Puritans  when  in  1663  he  published  his 
"  Hudibras,"  which  at  once  became  the  King's  vade  mecum.  The  re- 
wards which  he  received  from  Charles  for  this,  the  greatest  satire  in 
the  English  language,  were  several  unkept  promises  and  twenty  years 
of  obscure  misery.  In  his  poem,  Sir  Hudibras,  a  Puritan  colonel,  like 
Don  Quixote,  being  half  crazy,  goes  out  to  seek  adventures  and  finds 
a  plenty.  They  are  related  with  immense  spirit,  brilliant  wit,  and 
occasional  bursts  of  poetry.  A  few  quotations  will  give  an  idea  of 
Butler's  powers: 

"  And  pulpit,  drum  ecclcsiastick, 
Was  beat  with  fist  instead  of  a  stick." 

"  We  grant,  although  he  had  much  wit. 
He  was  very  shy  of  using  it." 

"  For  all  a  rhetorician's  rules 
Teach  nothing  but  to  name  his  tools." 

"  For  he  by  geometric  scale 
Could  take  the  size  of  pots  of  ale. 
And  wisely  tell  what  hour  o'  the  day 
The  clock  does  strike  by  algebra." 

"He  knew  what's  what  and  that's  as  high 
As  metaphysic  wit  can  fly." 

"  And  prove  their  doctrine  orthodox 

By  apostolic  blows  and  knocks." 
"  As  if  religion  were  intended 

For  nothing  else  but  to  be  mended." 

"  But  those  that  write  in  rhyme  still  make 

Tlie  one  verse  for  the  other's  sake ; 

For  one  for  verse  and  one  for  rhyme 

I  think's  sufficient  at  one  time." 
"  For  what  is  worth  in  anything 

But  so  much  money  as  'twill  bring?" 

"  The  sun  had  long  since  in  the  lap 
Of  Thetis  taken  out  his  nap,  r 

And,  like  a  lobster  boii'd,  the  morn 
From  black  to  red  began  to  turn." 

"  Doubtless  the  pleasure  is  as  great 
Of  l)cincj  cheated  as  to  cheat,  ' 

As  lookers-on  take  most  delight 
Who  least  perceive  a  juggler's  sleight." 


THE  RESTORATION  201 

"  For  those  that  fly  may  fight  again, 
Which  he  can  never  do  that's  slain." 

"  He  that  compHes  against  his  will 
Is  of  his  own  opinion  still." 

"  Rather  than  fail,  they  will  defy 
That  which  they  love  most  tenderly ; 
Quarrel  with  mince  pies  and  disparage 
Their  hest  and  dearest  friend,  plum  porridge; 
Fat  pig  and  goose  itself  oppose, 
And  blaspheme  custard  through  the  nose." 

The  drama  suffered  even  more  than  poetry  from  the  corruption  of 
the  age.  When  the  Restoration  came,  the  theatres,  after  being  closed 
for  eighteen  years,  were  again  thrown  open;  stages  in  most  essentials 
like  those  we  have  to-day  took  the  place  of  the  rude  platforms  of 
Elizabethan  days;  and  for  the  first  time  in  England  the  parts  of 
women  were  played  by  actresses.  The  plays  of  Shakespeare  were 
revived  with  some  applause,  though  those  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher 
were  twice  as  popular,  and  a  host  of  new  dramatists  began  to  write. 
Many  of  these  pillaged  without  scruple  from  the  old  English  play- 
wrights, from  the  French,  and  from  the  Spanish,  but  at  least  five  of 
them  were  powerful  and  original  writers.  The  first  of  these  was 
Thomas  Otway  (1651-1685),  who  starved  to  death,  but  whose  trage- 
dies, "  The  Orphan  "  and  "  Venice  Preserved,"  long  held  the  stage  by 
virtue  of  their  power  to  excite  the  passions  of  pity  and  fear.  Some  idea 
of  his  style  may  be  obtained  from  these  lines: 

"  Such  sights  as  youthful  poets  dream, 
Or  happy  painters  fancy  when  they  love." 

"  O  woman  !  lovely  woman  !     Nature  made  thee 
To  temper  man  :  we  had  been  brutes  without  you. 
Angels  are  painted  fair,  to  look  like  you : 
There's  in  you  all  that  we  believe  of  heaven, — 
Amazing  brightness,  purity,  and  truth, 
Eternal  joy,  and  everlasting  love." 

"  What  mighty  ills  have  not  been  done  by  woman  I 
Who  was  it  betrayed  the  Capitol  ? — A  woman  ! 
Who  lost  Mark  Antony  the  world  ? — A  woman  ! 
Who  was  the  cause  of  a  long  ten  years'  war. 
And  laid  at  last  old  Troy  in  ashes? — Woman  !  " 

William  Wycherley   (1640-1715)   wrote  two  entertaining  comedies, 

"  The  Country  Wife  "  and  ''  The  Plaindealer."    The  only  good  action 

of  his  whole  life,  according  to  Macaulay,  was  to  try  to  get  for  Samuel 

Butler  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.     His  Grace  con- 


202  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

sented  to  see  the  illustrious  author  of  "  Hudibras,"  who  was  sinking 
into  an  obscure  grave, neglected  by  a  nation  proud  of  his  genius  and  by 
a  court  which  he  had  served  too  well;  but  two  pretty  women  passed  by, 
the  Duke  ran  after  them,  and  the  opportunity  was  lost.  William  Con- 
greve  (1670-1728)  produced  with  great  success  "  The  Old  Bachelor," 
"  The  Double  Dealer,"  "  Love  for  Love,"  ''  The  Way  of  the  World," 
and  "  The  Mourning  Bride."  The  first  four  are  comedies,  the  last  a 
tragedy.  Dryden  considered  them  equal  to  Shakespeare's  plays. 
George  Farquhar,who  died  at  twenty-nine  in  1707,  achieved  a  brilliant 
success  with  "  The  Beaux'  Stratagem,"  but  in  his  less  famous  plays 
there  is  no  lack  of  spirit  or  comedy.  These  plays,  however,  are  all  dis- 
figured by  hardness  of  heart  and  by  a  licentiousness  that  remained  un- 
paralleled in  our  literature  until  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. Their  immorality,  contrary  as  it  was  to  the  English  temper,  was 
stingingly  rebuked  and  driven  off  the  stage  by  Jeremy  Collier  (1650- 
1726),  who  in  1698  published  his  "  Short  View  of  the  Profaneness 
and  Immorality  of  the  English  Stage,"  a  book  which  makes  one  won- 
der what  he  would  say  about  the  plays  of  1915  and  wish  that  he 
might  revisit  earth  for  the  purpose  of  castigating  them. 

The  prose  of  the  Restoration  period,  indeed,  was  on  the  whole 
dignified  and  creditable.  Isaac  Barrow  (1630-1677),  soldier,  scien- 
tist, professor  of  Greek,  and  theologian,  won  a  great  and  deserved 
fame  by  his  sermons.  Robert  South  (1634-1716),  the  wittiest  of 
English  divines,  splendidly  eloquent  in  the  pulpit,  hated  vice  almost 
as  much  as  he  hated  the  Puritans.  John  Evelyn  (1620-1706)  kept 
a  diary  which  shows  him  to  have  been  a  high-minded  gentleman  and 
which  is  one  of  our  best  sources  of  information  for  the  seventy  years 
it  covers.  Sir  Walter  Scott  said  he  had  never  seen  a  mine  so  rich. 
Among  other  things  Evelyn  speaks  of  an  hour's  sermon  as  short,  of 
ladies  painting  their  faces  as  a  novelty,  and  of  the  Alps  as  the  rubbish 
of  the  earth  swept  up  by  Nature  to  clear  the  plains  of  Lombardy. 
Still  more  entertaining  is  the  diary  of  Samuel  Pepys  (1663-1703) 
from  1660  to  1669.  He  was  such  a  useful  public  servant  that  Charles 
II  honored  him  to  the  extent  of  borrowing  28,000  pounds  from  him, 
which  he  never  repaid.  His  diary,  kept  in  shorthand,  was  not 
deciphered  until  1822.     It  gives  a  matchless  picture  of  the  times. 


THE  RESTORATION 


203 


Here  are  a  few  of  his  sentences:  '  To  Sir  \V.  Pens,  to  visit  him." 
"  To  church,  and  slept  all  the  sermon."  •  S.  P.  Q.  R.;  Sir  G.  Car- 
teret came  to  me  to  know  what  the  meaning  of  those  four  letters  were; 
which  ignorance  is  not  to  be  borne  in  a  Priw  Councillor,  methinks, 
what  a  schoolboy  should  be  whipt  for  not  knowing."  "  It  being  wash- 
ing day,  we  had  a  good  pie  baked  of  a  leg  of  mutton."     "  News  comes 


A  reproduction  of  an  old  broadside  representing  a  scene  in  a  typical  English  coffee-house 
of  the  Restoration  Period 

that  one  of  our  horses  is  stole,  which  proves  my  uncle's,  at  which  I  am 
inwardly  glad — I  mean,  that  it  was  not  mine."  ''  To  my  great  sor- 
row I  find  myself  43  1.  worse  than  I  was  the  last  month.  But  it  hath 
chiefly  arisen  from  my  layings-out  in  clothes  for  myself  and  wife; 
viz.,  for  her  about  1.2£,  and  for  myself  ■5o£."  "  The  Protector  never 
needed  to  send  for  any  man  twice."  "  A  gentleman  never  dances  so 
well  as  the  dancing  master."  "  Comes  Mr.  Reeve,  wath  a  microscope, 
for  which  I  did  give  him  o£  Is.  lOd."     "  My  wife  was  angry  with 


204  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

me  for  not  coming  home."  "  To  a  coffee-house,  to  drink.  Jocolatte — 
very  good."  "  Mr.  Barlow  is  dead,  for  which  I  am  as  sorry  as  one 
can  be  for  a  stranger  by  whose  death  he  gets  1()<J£  per  annum." 
"  Each  thinks  the  other  a  fool,  and  I  think  neither  of  them,  in  that 
point,  much  in  the  wrong."  '"  I  saw  one  pretty  piece  of  household 
stuff,  as  the  company  increaseth,  to  put  a  larger  leaf  upon  an  ovall 
table."  ''  I  am  worth  19001,  for  which  the  great  God  of  Heaven 
and  Earth  be  praised!  "  "  I  boxed  my  boy  that  I  do  hurt  my  thumbe 
so  much  that  I  was  not  able  to  stir  all  the  day  after  and  in  great 
pain."  "  A  fellow  imitated  all  manner  of  birds  and  dogs  and  hogs 
with  his  voice,  and  was  mighty  pleasant."  "  Othello  seems  a  mean 
thing."  "  Eat  a  musk  melon."  The  best  prose  writers  of  the  time, 
however,  were  the  scientists  and  philosophers.  Among  these  the 
greatest  were  Robert  Boyle  (1677-1691),  the  physicist;  John  Locke 
(1632-1704),  author  of  ''  An  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding," 
"  The  Conduct  of  the  Understanding,"  and  "  Thoughts  on  Education," 
who  is  justly  considered  the  father  of  the  science  of  psychology; 
and  Sir  Isaac  Xewton  (1642-1727),  the  inventor  of  the  differential 
calculus,  the  discoverer  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  the  founder 
of  the  science  of  optics.  Of  the  last  of  these  three  great  men.  Pope 
wrote', 

"  Nature    and    Nature's    works    lay   hid    in    night ; 
God  said,  '  Let  Newton  be,'  and  all  was  light !  " 

He  himself  said  of  his  work:  "  I  do  not  know  what  I  may  appear  to 
the  world,  but  to  myself  I  seem  to  have  been  only  like  a  boy  playing 
on  the  seashore,  and  diverting  myself  in  now  and  then  finding  a 
smoother  pebble  or  a  prettier  shell  than  ordinary,  whilst  the  great 
ocean  of  truth  lay  all  undiscovered  before  me." 

The  literary  dictator  of  this  period,  a  writer  preeminent  aHke 
in  drama,  in  prose,  and  in  verse,  was  John  Dryden,  whose  life  and 
works  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 

QUESTIONS   AND   EXERCISES 

1.  Be  able  to  stand  up  and  give  an  intelligent  talk  upon  the  government 

in   England   from    i66o  to   i688.      C Refer   to   any   school  history   of 
England. ) 

2.  Does    George    V    rule    by    divine    right    or    "by    the    consent    of    the 

governed  "? 


THE  RESTORATION  205 

3.  When  you  understand  the  conditions  of  England  between  1660  and  1687, 

is  light  cast  upon  the  life  and  work  of   Bunyan? 

4.  Who  wrote  the  greatest  satire  in  the  English  language?     Whom  did  it 

satirize? 

5.  Name  four  of  the  Restoration  dramatists  and  discuss  the  general  char- 

acteristics of  their  plays. 

6.  Why  is  the  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys,  Esquire,  good  literature? 

7.  What  is  psychology?     Who  is  considered  the  founder  of  the  science? 

8.  Aside   from  the  apple-tree   incident,   what   do  you  know  of   Sir   Isaac 

Newton  ? 

9.  What  is  meant  by  "the  reaction"  as  applied  to  Restoration  Literature? 

What  was  the  reaction  against? 
10.  Through     what     channels     did     the     French     influence     Restoration 
Literature? 

Suggested  Readings. — The  spirit  of  the  period  may  pleasurably  be 
derived  by  reading  at  random  in  the  Diaries  of  Samuel  Pepys  and  John 
Evelyn.  For  the  formal  history  continue  in  Gardiner's  "  School  History 
of  England."  Dip  into  "  Hudibras."  Read  ]\Iacaulay's  "  Comic  Drama- 
tists of  the  Restoration." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

JOHN   DRYDEN   (1631-1700) 

"  As  a  satirist  he  has  rivalled  Juvenal.  As  a  didactic  poet  he  might 
perhaps  with  care  and  meditation  have  rivalled  Lucretius.  Of  lyric  poets 
he  is,  if  not  the  most  sublime,  the  most  brilliant  and  spirit  stirring." — 
Macaulay. 

"  I  admire  his  talents  and  genius  greatly,  but  his  is  not  a  poetical 
genius." — Wordsworth. 

The  greatest  genius  of  the  Restoration  Period  is  John  Dryden. 
He  is  its  finest  intellect,  and  best  typifies  both  its  good  and  its  evil 
characteristics.  Dryden  was  born  in  Aldwinkle,  a  little  village  of 
Northamptonshire.  He  came  of  sound  Puritan  stock.  But  few 
details  are  known  of  Dryden's  early  life,  and  his  boyhood  surround- 
ings seem  to  have  left  upon  him  but  slight  impress.  He  entered  West- 
minster School  under  the  great  Doctor  Busby,  who,  no  doubt,  caned 
him  roundly  at  suitable  intervals,  but  who  commended  his  Latin 
translations.  At  nineteen  he  entered  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 
Nothing  that  he  wrote  before  1658  is  of  much  worth;  but  in  that  year 
appeared  an  eulogy  of  Oliver  Cromwell  which  contains  lines  that  give 
promise  of  the  strength  and  polish  later  to  be  shown.  After  leaving 
Cambridge  he  went  to  London,  where  he  wrote  occasional  pieces, 
and  where  he  chatted  with  the  bright  men  whom  he  met  at  Will's 
Coffee  House,  which  was  later  to  be  the  seat  of  his  literary  empire. 
In  1660  the  Restoration  gave  him  his  opportunity.  In  a  poem 
entitled  "  Astraea  Redux"  he  welcomed  Charles  Stuart;  the  poem 
abounds  in  fulsome  flattery  of  Charles  and  some  of  his  chief  adher- 
ents, as  does  also  a  panegyric  written  for  the  occasion  of  the  corona- 
tion.    A  short  excerpt  •will  serve  to  show  their  tenor: 

"  Methinks  I  see  those  crowds  on  Dover's   Strand, 
Who  in  their  haste  to  welcome  you  to  land 
Choked  up  the  beach  with  their  still-growing  store, 
And  made  a  wilder  torrent  on  the  shore. 
How  shall  I  speak  of  that  triumphant  day 
When  you  renewed  the  expiring  pomp  of  May? 
A  month  that  owes  an  interest  in  your  name ; 
You  and  the  flowers  are  its  peculiar  claim. 
That  star,  that  at  your  birth  shone  out  so  bright 
Tt  stained  the  duller  sun's  meridian  light, 
Did  once  again  its  potent  fires  renew. 
Guiding  our  eyes  to  find  and  worship  you." 
206 


JOHN  DRYDEN 


207 


In  1667  appeared  "  Annus  Mirabilis,"  a  poem  describing  the  great 
fire  of  London  and  some  events  in  the  war  with  Holland.  In  this 
poem  Dryden  employed  quatrains  instead  of  his  favorite  couplet. 
With  the  theatres  reopened,  however,  play-writing  was  likely  to 


JOHN   DRYDEN 
1631 — 1700 
From  the  portrait  by  Sir  G.  Kneller 


bring  in  greater  money  returns  than  anything  else,  so  to  this  Dryden 
turned  his  attention.  He  agreed  to  write  three  plays  annually  for 
the  King's  theatre.  Although  he  did  not  wholly  fulfill  this  contract, 
for  twenty  years  he  gave  his  efforts  almost  entirely  to  the  writing 


208  ENGLISH  LITERATUKE 

of  plays  which  are,  for  the  most  part,  discreditable.  They  were 
written  for  revenue  only.  The  age  demanded  wit;  and  wit,  it  was 
supposed,  could  not  co-exist  with  decency  and  virtue.  Although 
these  plays  contain  passages  of  excellence,  they  have  passed  into  the 
oblivion  that  they  deserve.  Many  were  original  only  in  form;  several 
were  adaptations  of  translations;  all  except  one  were  written  to  please 
a  debased  public  taste.  In  later  years  Dryden  frankly  admitted  the 
justice  of  Jeremy  Collier's  strictures  upon  his  plays.  In  "  All  for 
Love,"  written,  as  he  tells  us,  to  please  himself,  Dryden  has  taken 
for  his  theme  that  of  Shakespeare's  "  Antony  and  Cleopatra."  This  is 
the  only  one  of  Dryden 's  plays  written  in  blank  verse;  and  although 
it  is  far  better  than  any  of  his  others,  it  furnishes  proof  sufficient  of 
the  truth  of  Dryden 's  own  saying: 

"Shakespeare's  magic  could  not  copied  be; 
Within  that  circle  none  durst  walk  but  he." 

In  1663  Dryden  married  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard.     Three  sons 

were  born  of  this  marriage.    In  1670  he  was  appointed  Poet  Laureate, 

and  later  was  made  collector  of  the  port  of  London,  an  office  which,  it 

will  be  remembered,  Chaucer  had  held.     Honors  and  emoluments 

were  showered  upon  him;  he  was  on  familiar  terms  with  the  nobles 

and  literary  fashionables  of  Charles's  court;  he  became  an  arbiter  in 

''  matters  of  literary  taste.    Dryden  had  never  shown  particular  inter- 

/  est  in  governmental  or  political  questions.     After  the  exposure  of 

the  Rye  House  Plot,  however,  Dryden  attacked  the  Whigs  in  a  poem 

which  for  trenchant,  biting  satire  has  never  been  outdone.     Under 

the  title  "  Absalom  and  Achitophel  "  the  story  of  Absalom's  revolt 

against  King  David  was  made  to  fit  contemporary  English  politics, 

and  Dryden  pa'nted  in  scorching  colors  a  series  of  portraits  that  made 

the  originals  writhe.     Several  replies  were  attempted  to  this  stinging 

satire.     One  of  these  counter-attacks  drew  down  upon  its  author, 

Shadwell,  the  satire  "  Mac  Flecknoe,"  in  which  Dryden  held  up  the 

unfortunate  Shadwell  to  the  most  bitter  ridicule.     A  few  lines  will 

suffice  to  show  how  Dryden  could  stab  with  couplets: 

(Of  Shaftesbury) 
"  Of  these  the  false  Achitophel  was  first, — 
A  name  to  all  succeeding  ages  curst : 
For  close  designs  and  crooked  counsels  fit; 


JOHN  DRYDEN  20d 

Sagacious,  bold,  and  turliulcnt  of  wit. 
(ireat  wits  are  sure  to  madness  near  allied, 
And  tliin  partitions  do  their  hounds   divide; 
Else  why  should  he,  with  wealth  and  honor  blest, 
Refuse  his  age  the  needful  hours  of  rest? 
Punish  a  body  which  he  could  not  please ; 
Bankrupt  of   life,   yet  prodigal  of   ease? 
And  all  to  leave  what  with  his  toil  he  won. 
To  that  unfeathered  two-legged  thing,  a  son. 

In  friendship  false,  implacable  in  hate, 
Resolved  to  ruin  or  to  rule  the  state." 

(Of  Buckingham) 
"  Stifif  in  opinions,  always  in  the  wrong. 
Was  everything  by  starts,  and  nothing  long; 
But  in  the  course  of  one  revolving  moon 
Was  chymist,  fiddler,   statesman,  and  buffoon." 

(Of   Shadwell) 
"  Shadwell  alone  my  perfect  image  bears, 
Mature  in  dulness  from  his  tender  years ; 
Shadwell  alone,  of  all  my  sons,  is  he 
Who   stands   confirmed  in   full   stupidity. 
The  rest  to  some  faint  meaning  make  pretense, 
But  Shadwell  never  deviates  into  sense." 

In  satiric  verse  Dryden  is  unrivalled.  It  may  be  thought  that  poetry ' 
is  unsuitable  to  satire;  but  the  "  closed  couplet,"  as  Dryden  used 
it,  by  its  very  compactness  and  terseness  allowed  the  quick,  clean, 
rapier- like  thrust.  Every  couplet  carries  a  scorpion-like  sting;  and 
yet  there  is  not  the  pervasive  venom  that  characterizes  Pope  at  his 
worst.  Following  close  upon  these  satires  appeared  "  Rehgio  Laici," 
an  argumentative  and  didactic  poem  in  defense  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Only  a  few  years  later,  however,  after  the  accession  of 
James  II,  Dryden  became  a  convert  to  the  Roman  Church  and  wrote 
"  The  Hind  and  the  Panther,"  in  which,  under  the  similitude  of 
various  animals,  he  ridiculed  all  sects  except  the  Roman  Catholic. 
This  form  of  allegorical  satire  was  well  suited  to  Dryden's  talents. 

Of  his  shifting  in  politics  and  in  religion  it  is  difficult  to  speak.- 
First  he  was  a  Parliamentarian,  then  a  Tory;  a  Puritan,  then  an 
Anglican;  later  a  Romanist;  and  in  each  case  the  change  was  coinci- 
dent with  the  rising  tide.  To  put  it  gently,  he  seems  to  have  been 
"  adaptable,"  and  could  change  his  political  coat  with  the  fashion. 
However,  he  remained  steadfast  in  his  last  conversion;  with  the 
14 


210  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Bloodless  Revolution  "  of  1688  Dryden  lost  place  and  power, 
although  the  incoming  government  made  tentative  overtures  to  enlist 
his  talents  on  the  side  of  the  Whigs.  Deprived  thus  of  his  pension 
and  the  revenues  of  his  collectorship,  he  set  to  work  courageously 
to  write  whatever  would  bring  an  income. 

Among  the  works  of  these  later  years  is  a  complete  translation 
of  the  "^neid"  and  of  several  other  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics. 
Dryden's  sense  of  linguistic  form  and  a  good  verbal  memory  served 
him  well  as  a  translator.  He  died  in  1 700  and  was  buried  in  West- 
minster Abbey. 

While  Milton  still  was  Foreign  Secretary,  Dryden  was  just  com- 
ing into  fame.  The  lives  of  the;:e  men  overlapped  by  forty-three 
years.  But  in  their  aims  and  ideals  how  vast  the  difference! 
Milton,  as  truly  as  Cromwell,  is  identified  with  the  Puritan  struggle 
for  civil  and  religious  liberty;  Dryden  belongs  wholly  to  the 
pleasure-loving,  elegant,  morally  irresponsible  "  cavalier  "  element. 
In  their  poetic  ideals  they  differed  as  greatly.  Milton  tells  us: 
"  I  was  confirmed  in  this  opinion,  that  he,  who  would  not  be  frus- 
trate of  his  hope  to  write  well  hereafter  in  laudable  things,  ought 
himself  to  be  a  true  poem,  that  is  a  composition  and  pattern  of  the 
best  and  honourablest  things."  Milton  regarded  rhyme  as  rather 
a  frippery  ornament;  Dryden  rarely  used  blank  verse, — indeed,  even 
attempted  in  his  play,  "  State  of  Innocence,"  to  recast  Milton's 
majestic  lines  of  "  Paradise  Lost  "  in  rhyme.  The  result  was  tawdri- 
ness.  If  you  seek  moral  earnestness  and  lofty  spiritual  truths  look 
not  for  these  in  Dryden, — your  seeking  will  be  in  vain;  they  are 
not  to  be  found  between  the  covers  of  his  books.  But  to  Dryden 
we  are  indebted  for  great  advance  upon  the  formal  side,  both  in  prose 
and  verse.  His  polished  couplets,  terse,  effective,  brilliant,  became 
the  fashion,  and  quite  shut  out  any  further  attempts  in  the  direction 
of  fantastic  stanza-forms  such  as  had  been  a  diversion  among  lesser 
versifiers  since  Elizabeth's  time.  His  prose  is  chiefly  literary  criti- 
cism and  discussion  of  the  principles  of  literary  art;  except  in  a  few 
essays  it  is  to  be  found  chiefly  in  prefaces  and  introductions  to  his 
own  poems  and  plays.  He  freed  the  English  sentence  from  the 
tortuous  windings  and  involutions  in  which  it  had  become  enmeshed 


JOHN  DRYDEN  211 

by  writers  whose  linguistic  notions  were  derived  solely  from  their 
training  in  Latin,  and  who  were  unable  to  conceive  what  Dryden 
conceived  and  also  demonstrated  in  his  own  work,  that  English  prose, 
so  "  fit  for  the  speech  of  man,"  is  best  expressed  in  short,  clear, 
direct,  forceful  sentences. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  did  Dryden's  readers  desire  above  all  else? 

2.  Compare  Dt-yden's  character  and  career  with  Bunyan's. 

3.  What  is  the  great  delit  readers  of  English  literature  owe  to  Dryden? 

4.  What  is  a  literary  dictator? 

5.  Who  was  Dryden's  most  famous  predecessor  as  "  the  literary  dictator 

of  London  "? 

6.  What  was  the  subject  of  "  Absalom  and  Achitophel '"? 

7.  What  was  the  outcome  of  publishing  "  Astraea  Redux"? 

8.  How  did  Dryden's  versification  differ  from  Milton's? 

9.  Are  these  different  types  suited  to  similar  subjects? 

10.  Write  an  outline  of  Dryden's  life,  laying  emphasis  on  his  relations  to 
the  religious  and  political  issues  of  the  times. 

Suggested  Readings. — For  satire  read  "Absalom  and  Achitophel"; 
for  lyricism,  "  Alexander's  Feast "  and  "  A  Song  for  St.  Cecelia's  Day."  In 
"  Among  My  Books,"  Lowell's  "  Essay  on  Dryden  "  will  amply  repay  the 
reader. 


^on:  ^  tperv 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
A  CENTURY   OF  PROSE   (1688-1789) 

"  Made  poetry  a  mere  mechanic  art 
And   every   warbler  had   his   tune  by  heart." 

— Cowper. 

In  1688  the  theory  of  the  divine  right  of  kings  died  in  England. 
In  that  year  James  II  was  expelled  from  the  throne  by  Parliament  and 
an  act  passed  which  secured  the  succession  to  William,  Prince  of 
Orange,  and  his  wife  Mary,  the  daughter  of  the  exiled  king.  Under 
this  act  William  reigned  until  1702,  being  followed  by  Anne,  daughter 
of  James  (1702-1714),  and  by  the  four  Georges  (1714-1830),  who 
were  descended  from  the  Electors  of  Hanover  and  the  royal  family  of 
England.  The  expulsion  of  the  Stuarts  is  called  the  English  Revo- 
lution. Its  significance  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  crown  was  then  prac- 
tically stripped  of  power.  The  maxim  that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong 
is  derived  from  the  assumption  that  the  real  responsibility  of  govern- 
ment rests  on  the  shoulders  of  the  prime  minister.  Anne,  indeed,  on 
one  occasion  ventured  to  veto  an  act  of  parliament,  but  the  result 
was  such  that  neither  she  nor  any  of  her  successors  repeated  the 
experiment.  George  III  (1760-1820)  also  tried  to  be  king  in  fact 
as  well  as  name,  his  method  being  to  bribe  parliament;  but  he  was 
finally  made  by  Edmund  Burke,  George  Washington,  and  several 
millions  of  other  gentlemen,  to  understand  that  the  monarch  is  only 
the  hereditary  grand  master  of  ceremonies.  People  often  sneer  at  the 
eighteenth  century  as  cold  and  formal,  but  in  reality  iiTwas^ETYery- 
commendable  century.  Among  other  good  things  it  producedT  Benja- 
min Franklin  and  George  Washington,  the  Wedgewood  potteries, 
the  spinning  jenny,  the  steam  engine,  Edmund  Burke,  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  the  French  Revolution.  This  last  event,  which 
occurred  1 789,  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  English  literature 
as  well  as  the  end  of  the  old  regime  in  French  politics. 

In  literature  this  period  has  been  called  with  some  justice  a  cen- 
tury of  prose. 
212 


A  CENTURY  OF  PROSE  21S 

The  spirit  which  dominated  writers  both  of  prose  and  verse  was 
hostile  to  imagination,  enthusiasm,  decoration,  and  invention,  but 
favorable  to  symmetry  and  uniformity.  To  be  direct,  clear,  logical, 
reasonable,  and  sensible  were  their  aims.  Accordingly  they  produced 
an  extraordinary  development  of  journalism,  a  new  form  of  the 
essay,  the  modern  novel,  the  modern  history,  and  a  body  of  verse 
noteworthy  by  reason  of  its  metrical  excellence  and  its  intellectual 
brilliancy  but  deficient  in  the  highest  qualities  of  poetry.  Other 
forces,  were,  however,  at  work  almost  from  the  beginning  of  the 
century.  Wonder,  romance,  and  the  love  of  nature  found  fitful 
expression,  and  toward  the~end  of  the  period  the  age  of  prose  was 
supplanted  by  an  age  of  poetry. 

Among  the  eighteenth  century  innovations,  journalism  began  first 
and  has  lasted  longest.  The  first  number  of  the  first  daily  paper, 
"  The  Daily  Courant,"  was  issued  1702,  three  days  after  the  death 
of  William  III  and  the  accession  of  Queen  Anne.  It  was  a  little 
double-columned  sheet,  fourteen  inches  by  eight,  printed  on  one  side. 
Almost  at  once  it  had  a  crowd  of  rivals.  Though  small  in  comparison 
with  those  huge  modern  sheets  that  threaten  to  deforest  the  earth 
by  reason  of  their  consumption  of  wood  pulp,  these  early  papers  were 
quite  large  enough  to  supply  all  of  the  real  news  of  that  day  or  this. 
Unfortunately,  they  did  nothing  of  the  kind.  Their  columns,  on  the 
contrary,  were  filled  with  what  purported  to  be  foreign  news,  which 
was  then,  as  it  is  now,  easy  to  manufacture  and  the  authenticity  of 
which  does  not  much  matter.  In  point  of  fact  the  best  of  them,  "  The 
Review,"  was  written  by  the  author  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  while  he 
was  in  jail.  To  this  journalistic  peculiarity  Joseph  Addison  playfully 
alludes  in  Number  18  of  "  The  Tatler  "  in  words  which  might  almost 
have  been  written  in  1914  or  1915:  "  The  Case  of  these  Gentlemen  is, 
I  think,  more  hard  than  that  of  the  Soldiers,  considering  that  they 
have  taken  more  towns  and  fought  more  Battles.  They  have  made  us 
Masters  of  several  strong  Towns  many  weeks  before  our  Generals 
could  do  it;  and  compleated  Victories,  when  our  greatest  Captains 
have  been  glad  to  come  off  with  a  drawn  Battle.  WTiere  Prince 
Eugene  has  slain  his  thousands,  Boyer  (of '  The  Post-Boy  ')  has  slain 
his  Ten  Thousands.     .     .     .     This  Gentleman  has  laid  about  him 


214 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


with  an  inexpressible  fury.  .  .  .  The  redoubted  Mr.  Buckley  has 
shed  as  much  blood  as  the  former.  ...  He  spares  neither 
Friends  nor  Foe,  but  generally  kills  as  many  of  his  own  side  as  the 
Enemy." 


DANIEL  DEFOE 

1661 — 1731 

From  an  engraving  by  Hopwood,  after  a  portrait  by  J.  Richardson 

In  this  delectable  extract,  with  its  distinction  of  phrasing  and  its 
delicate  irony,  we  have  an  example  of  what  the  essay  was  to  become 
in  the  hands  of  Joseph  Addison  and  Sir  Richard  Steele,  Samuel 
Johnson  and  Oliver  Goldsmith.  But  that  is  a  story  which  will  be 
more  fully  discussed  in  the  chapters  on  those  illustrious  men. 


A  CENTURY  OF  PROSE  215 

This  period  also  saw  the  first  modern  novels,  which  were  written 
by  Daniel  Defoe(  1661-1 731),  who, as  Austin  Dobson  says, discovered 
an  uninhabited  island,  and  by  Samuel  Richardson  (1689-1791),  who 
discovered  the  very  much  inhabited  female  heart.  These  pioneers 
were  followed  by  Henry  Fielding  (1707-1754),  Tobias  Smollett 
(1721-1771),  Laurence  Sterne  (1713-1768),  Samuel  Johnson  (1709- 
1784),  Oliver  Goldsmith  (1728^1774),  Horace  Walpole  (1717-1797), 
Frances  Burney  (1752-1840)^  and  Mrs.  Radcliffe  (1764-1823),  until 
finally,  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  n6vel  reached 
almost  its  highest  perfection  in  the  works  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771- 
1832)  and  Jane  Austen  (1775-1817). 

Hitherto  history  in  England  had  been  little  but  uncritical  and 
unscientific  chronicle  and  compilation.  In  the  eighteenth  century, 
however,  there  arose  three  writers  who  raised  it  at  once  to  a  definite 
art.  The  first  of  these  was  David  Hume  (1711-1776).  For  research, 
as  research  is  now  understood,  he  cared  little.  But  he  gave  to  his 
"  History  of  England  "  the  charm  of  a  flowing  narrative  and  a  style 
which  was  as  easy  to  read  as  a  fairy  tale.  He  was  followed  by 
Dr.  William  Robertson  (1721-1793)  with  histories  of  Scotland, 
Charles  V,  and  America,  which  were  almost  as  good  as  Hume's  in 
style  and  were  based  on  a  somewhat  better  standard  of  investigation. 
Both  Hume  and  Robertson,  however,  must  yield  to  the  matchless 
work  of  Edward  Gibbon  (1737-1794).  His  "  History  of  the  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  "  is  still  the  standard  authority  for  the 
period  it  covers  and  is  considered  by  some  critics  the  finest  history 
in  the  English  language.  It  is  written  in  a  splendidly  sonorous 
style;  its  narrative  flows  without  a  break  from  the  age  of  the 
Antonines  to  the  occupation  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks;  and 
not  even  twentieth  century  scholarship  has  been  able  to  improve 
his  material. 

From  the  history  of  nations  the  transition  is  easy  to  the  history 
of  individuals.  Accordingly  we  find  in  this  period  a  wealth  of 
biography  and  of  autobiography  not  previously  equalled  by  any  na- 
tion. There  were""sh6rt  lives  such  as  Goldsmith's  "  Beau  Nash  "  and 
Johnson's  admirable  "  Lives  of  the  Poets,"  most  of  whom  were  not 
poets  at  all  but  only  wretched  versifiers;  there  were  long  biographies 


216 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


such  as  Hawkesworth's  "  Swift  "  and  Hawkins's  "  Johnson  ";  there 
were  scholarly  performances  such  as  Middleton's  "  Cicero  ";  and  there 
were  personal  records  as  unlike  as  Colley  Gibber's  "  Apology  for  his 
Life  "  and  Hume's  account  of  "  My  Own  Life."   Finally,  in  the  last 


EDWARD    GiBBUN 

1737—1794 

From   an   engraving   after   the    portrait   by   Sir   Joshua   Reynolds 

decade  of  the  century,  appeared  two  works,  each  of  which  in  its  own 
field  remains  unrivalled.  One  of  these  is  Gibbon's  "  Autobiography." 
Nothing  can  be  more  interesting  than  his  account  of  the  circumstances 
that  moulded  his  career  and  determined  the  progress  of  his  great  his- 


A  CENTURY  OF  PROSE  217 

tory.  The  other  work  referred  to  was  Boswell's  "  Life  of  Johnsoti," 
which  is  the  greatest  biography  in  any  language  and  seems  destined  to 
remain  so,  as  the  combination  of  circumstances  that  produced  it  is 
not  likely  to  recur.  Carlyle  says  that  it  is  to  England  what  "  The 
Odyssey  "  is  to  Greece,  a  true  though  homely  epic.  To  this  day  it 
remains  the  standard  by  which  every  new  biography  is  measured. 

The  prose  spirit  of  the  age  also  produced  letters.  Maids  of  honor 
who  could  spell  and  maids  of  honor  who  could  not  resorted  freely 
to  this  means  of  communication.  Swift  describes  one  of  them  as 
scrawling  like  a  Wapping  wench.  He  himself  wrote  his  "  Journal  to 
Stella,"  which  is  really  one  long  letter  continued  through  several  years. 
Indeed  most  of  the  great  writers  and  all  of  the  small,  if  one  judge  by 
the  avalanche  of  eighteenth  century  epistolary  volumes  that  in  recent 
years  have  descended  from  the  press,  delighted  in  this  innocent  pas- 
time. The  most  famous  letters  of  the  century,  however,  were  written 
by  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  by  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  and 
by  Llorace  Walpole,  while  the  best  undoubtedly  came  from  the  pen 
of  the  poet  Cowper.  Lady  Mary  wrote  of  her  travels,  of  society  as  she 
saw  it,  and  of  contemporary  literature;  Chesterfield  taught  his  son 
that  whatever  is  worth  doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well  and  advised 
him  to  take  care  of  the  pence,  for  the  pounds  will  take  care  of  them- 
selves; Horace  Walpole,  holding  that  the  world  is  a  comedy  to  those 
who  think  and  a  tragedy  to  those  who  feel,  for  sixty  years  and  in 
2700  letters  gossiped  about  the  brilliant,  jigging,  smirking  J/anity 
Fair  in  which  he  lived ;  and  Cowper  wrote  with  sedate  playfulness  of 
his  own  uneventful  days,  proving  delightfully  and  conclusively  that 
one  can  write  well  about  nothing  if  only  one  knows  how. 

Some  critics  hold  that  the  poetry  of  the  age  was  not  poetry  at  all 
but  only  prose  run  mad.  They  call  Alexander  Pope  (1688-1744) 
the  most  eminent  poet  of  the  time,  a  word  carpenter,  a  literary 
mechanic.  His  theories  and  his  success  will  be  fully  discussed  in  a 
later  chapter.  Here  it  will  suffice  to  say  that  he  succeeded  in  con- 
vincing his  own  generation  and  that  which  followed  that  he  had 
"  carried  the  language  to  the  highest  perfection."  The  words  in 
quotation  marks  were  written  1764  by  Oliver  Goldsmith  in  his 
"  Enquiry  into  the  Present  State  of  Polite  Learning  in  Europe."    His 


^18 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


keen  eye  already  detected  a  change  of  fashion  and  of  feeling,  a  change 
indeed  which  is  discernible  in  his  own  "  Traveller,"  which  appeared 
the  same  year. 

That  change,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had  begun  with  Thomson's 
"  Seasons  "  (1726-1730),  a  nature  poem  written,  not  in  Pope's  coup- 

RELIQ^UES 

O  F 

ANCIENT  ENGLISH  POETRY: 

CONSISTING     OF 

Old  Heroic  Ballahs,  Songs,  ana  ot 
Pieces  of  our  earlier  Poets, 

(Chiefly  of  the  LvRic  kind.) 

Together  with  fome  few  of  later  Date. 

VOLUMETHEFIRST. 


LONDON: 

Primed  for  J.  Dod5lfv  in  P.ilI-MiU 

M  DCC  LXV. 


Title-page   of   first   edition   of   Percy's   "Reliques"    (1765) 
The  courtesy  of  the  Macmillan  Company,  from  "English  Literature,  An  Illustrated  Record" 

lets,  but  in  blank  verse,  and  characterized  by  accurate  description  of 
living  things.  After  Thomson  had  come  Dr.  Edward  Young  (1684- 
1765),  who  began  his  literary  career  by  imitating  Pope  and  ended  it 
as  the  unrhymed  author  of  a  sombre  moral  poem  called  "  Night 
Thoughts,"  which  is  not  at  all  in  Pope's  style.  After  Young  followed 


A  CENTURY  OF  PROSE  219 

Thomas  Gray  (1716-1771),  with  his  undying  "  Elegy  "  and  his  won- 
derful "  Pindaric  Odes."  Then  came  a  Scot  named  Macpherson,  who 
stirred  men's  souls  with  what  was  really  a  good  poem  of  his  own  but 
which  he  pretended  to  be  a  translation  of  the  ancient  Gaelic  verse 
of  "  Ossian."  Its  popularity  enraged  Dr.  Johnson,  who  was  himself 
a  stout  adherent  of  Pope  and  who  called  it  an  impudent  forgery. 
Forgery  perhaps,  poem  surely,  "  Ossian  "  was  succeeded  by  another 
work,  likewise  a  forgery  and  a  poem,  the  Rowley  book  of  Thomas 
Chatterton  (1752-1770),  who  pretended  that  what  he  had  himself 
written  had  lain  for  centuries  in  the  archives  of  an  old  family.  Bishop 
Percy,  about  the  same  time,  published  a  book  of  Zeal  old  English 
poetry  under  the  title  of  "  Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry  "  and 
thus  revealed  to  an  astonished  nation  the  fact  that  some  good  poetry 
had  been  written  before  Dr>^den's  time.  Though  George  Crabbe 
(1754-1832)  and  William  Cowper  (1731-1800)  wrote  in  couplets, 
both  showed  the  new  influence,  the  former  by  his  choice  and  accurate 
description  of  homely  subjects,  the  latter  both  by  example  and  by 
precept,  for  he  complained  that  Pope  had  made  poetry  a  mere 
mechanic  art.  ^.^   ss. 

"  And  every  warbler  had  his  tune  h^j^aH." 


Finally,  in  1786,  Robert  Burns(l'>W^1798)  went  up  from  Mossgigl 
to  Edinburgh;  William  Blake.-aDOut  the  same  time  wrote  his  "  Songs 
of  Innocence";  in  1798  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  published  their 
'■  Lyrical  Ballads  ";  and  thus,  while  the  French  themselves  were  busy 
in  getting  rid  of  their  kings,  the  French  influence  in  English  Irterature 
passed  away.  Perhaps  the  student  will  be  able  to  feel  what  had 
happened  if  he  will  contrast  four  lines  from  Pope  with  four  from 
Burns: 

"  Hope   springs   eternal   in   the   human   breast : 

Man  never  is  but  always  to  be  blest. 

The  soul,  uneasy  and  confined  from  home, 

Rests  and  expatiates  in  a  life  to  come." 

—Pope. 

"  Oh,  my  love's  like  a  red,  red  rose, 
That's  newly  sprung  in  June ; 
Oh,  my  love's  like  the  melodie 
That's  sweetly  played  in  tune." 

— Burns. 


2^20 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


Summary 


Reigns 
William     and 

Mary  (1688- 

1702) 

Mary    died 

1694 
Anne 

1702-1714 


George  I . . . . 
1714-1727 


George  II..  .  . 
1727-1760 


George  III .  . 
1760-1820 


Events 
1690    Battle    of     the 

Boyne. 
1694  Bank  of  England 

founded. 

1704  Battle  of   Blen- 
heim. 


1715  Jacobite  rebellion. 


1732  George  Washing- 
ton born.  Georgia 
founded. 

1738  Methodists  organ- 
ized. 

1745  Battle  of  Fonte- 
noy. 

1746  Battle  of  Culloden. 

1758  Fort  Duquesne. 

1759  Wolfe  at  Quebec. 


1763  Wedgwood  Pot- 
teries. 

1764  Hargreaves's  spin- 
ning jenny. 

1765  Watts's  steam 
engine. 

1 77 1  Great  journals 
founded. 

1776  U.  S.  A. 

1789  French  Revolu- 
tion. 


Authors 

1688  Pope  born. 

1689  Richardson 
born. 

1700  Thomson  born. 

1 706  Franklin  born . 

1707  Fielding  born. 
1709  Johnson  born. 
171 1  Hume  born. 

1 7 13  Sterne  born. 

1 7 16  Gray  born. 
1 72 1  Robertson  bom. 
Smollett  born. 

1728  Percy  born. 

Goldsmith  born. 

1730  Burke  born. 

1 73 1  Cowper  born. 
1737  Gibbon  born. 
1740  Boswell  born. 

1751  Sheridan  born. 

1752  Fanny  Burney 

born. 
Chatterton 
born. 
1754  Crabbe  bom. 
1759  Burns  born. 

1770  Wordsworth 

born. 

1 77 1  Scott  born. 

1772  Coleridge  born. 
1775  Lamb  born. 

Jane  Austen 
born. 
1783  W.  Irving  born. 

1788  Byron  born. 

1789  Cooper  born. 


Books 


1712  "Specta- 
tor." 

17 1 8  "Robin- 
son Crusoe.' 


1759    Gray's 
"Elegy." 


QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Perhaps  arliitrarily  we  mark  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  as 

the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  English  literature.     When  was  it  ter- 
minated and  what  great  event  marked  its  termination  ? 

2.  What  were  the  especial  aims  of  the  typical  writers  of  this  century? 

3.  What  new  literary  forms  may  we  look  for  in  the  eighteenth  century  ? 

4.  Name  four  eighteenth  century  novelists. 

5.  How  did  the  historical  writing  of  the  eighteenth  century  dififer   from 

that  which  had  preceded  it? 


A  CENTURY  OF  PROSE  221 

6.  Name  several  important  biographical  or  autobiographical  works  written 

in  this  century. 

7.  For  what  was  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague  famous? 

8.  You  sometimes  hear  the  phrase  "  Chesterfieldian  manners."     How  did 

this  phrase  originate? 

9.  What  is  the  character  of  Thomson's  "Seasons"?     Does  it  more  thor- 

oughly represent  the  point  of  view  of  the  beginning  or  the  end  of 
the  century? 
10.  Exclusive  of  l)eing  the  author  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  what  is  Daniel 
Defoe's  claim  to  fame? 

Suggested  Readings. — Edmund  Gosse's  "  History  of  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury Literature  "  is  an  excellent  work  for  collateral  reading.  Read  "  Rol)in- 
son  Crusoe  "  again. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

JONATHAN  SWIFT  (1667-1745) 

"  An  immense  genius." — Thackeray. 

'  "  The  most  agreeable  companion,  the  truest  friend,  and  the  greatest 
genius  of  his  age." — Addison. 

Jonathan  Swift,  best  known  to  the  present  generation  as  the 
author  of  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  was  born  at  7  Hoey's  Court,  Dublin, 
November  30,  1667.  Though  his  name  is  inseparably  connected 
with  Ireland  and  the  Irish,  he  was  thoroughly  English  in  descent  and 
character.     His  Yorkshire  lineage  is  commemorated  in  the  lines: 

"Jonathan  Swift  Had  the  gift  By  fatherige, 
Motherige,  And  by  brotherige,  To  come  from  Gotheridge." 

On  his  mother's  side  he  was  related  to  the  Poet  Herrick,  and  on 
his  father's  to  John  Dryden.  Before  he  was  three  he  could  read  any 
chapter  in  the  Bible.  At  six  he  was  sent  to  Kilkenny  School,  then 
the  best  in  Ireland.  In  1682  he  was  entered  at  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin. His  college  career,  however,  did  not  harmonize  with  the  brilliant 
promise  of  his  infancy.  At  Easter,  1685,  we  find  him  passing  in 
Greek  and  Latin,  but  being  plucked  in  philosophy  and  theology. 
However,  through  a  special  dispensation  of  the  authorities  he  was 
given  his  bachelor's  degree  in  1686.  The  death  of  his  father  and  the 
financial  embarrassment  of  the  uncle  on  whom  he  had  chiefly  de- 
pended at  this  time  reduced  Swift  to  poverty  and  deeply  impressed 
upon  his  mind  the  misery  of  dependence. 

Probably  Swift  had  looked  forward  while  at  Trinity  to  a  clerical 
career,  but  the  Revolution  of  1688  destroyed  his  hopes  of  preferment. 
At  this  crisis,  Sir  William  Temple,  whose  wife  was  in  some  way  re- 
lated to  Swift's  mother,  offered  him  a  position  as  his  private  secretary 
at  a  salary  of  twenty  pounds  a  year.  Swift  accepted  and  for  the  next 
eleven  years,  except  for  one  short  interval,  made  his  home  at  Temple's 
estate  of  Moor  Park,  near  Farnham,  in  Surrey.  Temple  in  his  day 
had  been  a  distinguished  statesman  and  though  now  retired  still 
retained  considerable  influence.     In  later  years.  Swift  was  in  the 

222 


JONATHAN  SWIFT 


223 


habit  of  complaining  bitterly  of  the  menial  relationship  in  which  he 
stood  to  his  employer.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  raw  Irish 
student,  whose  views  regarding  the  distribution  of  functions  between 
knives  and  forks  were  lamentably  unsettled,  did  and  said  things 


JONATHAN  SWIFT 

1667 — 1745 
From  the  portrait  by  Charles  Jerves 


which  were  highly  distasteful  to  the  distinguished  diplomat  of  60, 
who  had  been  intimate  with  the  last  two  kings  and  was  still  the 
confidential  friend  of  the  reigning  monarch.  Their  relations  indeed 
became  so  strained  that  in  1695  Swift  actually  left  Temple,  went  to 


224  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Ireland,  took  orders,  and  settled  at  Kilroot.  He  found  the  solitude 
of  this  life  so  intolerable,  however,  that  he  returned  in  1696  to  Moor 
Park,  and  remained  there  in  his  former  capacity  until  1699.  At 
bottom  the  two  men  evidently  had  a  sincere  respect  for  each  other's 
character  and  abilities.  Through  Temple's  influence  Swift,  in  1692, 
was  enabled  to  take  the  degree  of  M.A.  at  Oxford.  By  Temple,  also, 
he  was  sent  as  a  political  emissary  to  King  William  III,  by  that 
monarch  was  offered  a  military  commission  in  a  regiment,  and  was 
taught  how  to  eat  asparagus  after  the  Dutch  fashion,  which  consisted 
of  eating  the  stalks  as  well  as  the  heads,  a  custom  which  Swift  in 
later  years  was  in  the  habit  of  imposing  on  his  guests.  On  the 
whole.  Swift's  years  at  Moor  Park  seem  to  have  been  not  disagree- 
able nor  unprofitable.  For  long  intervals  he  was  the  sole  occupant 
of  the  great  house,  "  living  alone,"  as  he  said,  "  in  state,  seeing 
nobody,  and  amusing  his  leisure  by  watching  the  revolutions  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  rooks."  He  utilized  the  leisure  of  the  situation  in 
reading  and  in  writing.  Among  other  authors  he  devoured  Virgil, 
Homer,  Horace,  and  Lucretius.  His  studies,  in  fact,  included  every- 
thing but  theology.  His  residence  at  Moor  Park  continued  until 
1699,  when  Sir  William  died,  leaving  Swift  his  literary  executor. 
The  editing  and  publication  of  Temple's  works  probably  made  him 
several  hundred  pounds  and  certainly  caused  him  an  enormous  amount 
of  trouble  in  later  years. 

In  1692,  Sir  William  had  written  an  essay  on  ancient  and  modern 
learning,  about  which  he  knew  little,  and  it  involved  him  in  a  furious 
controversy  with  several  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  the 
age.  Swift,  in  1697,  took  up  arms  on  behalf  of  his  patron  and  pro- 
duced a  remarkable  composition,  which  was  published  in  1 704  under 
the  name  of  the  "  Battle  of  the  Books."  It  is  an  account  in  prose  of 
a  battle  between  the  ancient  and  modem  books,  the  style  being  a 
mock  heroic  imitation  of  Homer's  battles.  The  moderns  are  com- 
pletely defeated.     The  whole  book  is  characterized  by  infinite  spirit. 

The  "  Battle  of  the  Books  "  is  an  expression  of  the  contempt  for 
pedants  which  is  about  the  only  thing  that  Swift  seems  to  have 
derived  from  his  course  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  It  is  still  more 
conspicuous  in  a  far  greater  satire  which  he  wrote  about  1696  and 


JONATHAN  SWIFT  225 

which  was  published  along  with  "  The  Battle  of  the  Books  "  in  1704. 
This  was  "  The  Tale  of  a  Tub,"  which  has  been  called  Swift's  chal- 
lenge to  pedantry,  an  attack  on  shams,  and  the  precursor  of  Carlyle's 
"  Sartor  Resartus."  In  it  Swift's  style  reached  a  degree  of  perfection 
which  is  found  nowhere  else  in  his  works.  It  is  so  good,  indeed,  that 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  hated  Swift,  doubted  whether  he  could  have  written 
it.  Swift  himself  toward  the  end  of  his  life,  on  re-reading  the  book, 
is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  Good  God,  w^hat  a  genius  I  had  when  I 
wrote  that  book!  "  As  far  as  it  can  be  said  to  have  a  theme,  it  is  a 
sort  of  defense  of  the  English  Church  against  the  Roman  Catholics 
and  the  Puritans.  So  effectively  did  Swdft  ridicule  these  sects  that 
the  book  led  to  doubts  of  his  orthodoxy  and  even  of  his  Christianity, 
and  undoubtedly  interfered  with  his  promotion  in  the  church. 

When  Swift  left  Moor  Park  in  1699,  he  was  thirty-one  years  old. 
In  a  search  for  a  means  of  living,  he  turned  again  to  Ireland,  w^hich 
he  hated,  and  finally  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  Hving  in  Laracor,  a 
village  twenty  miles  from  Dublin.  The  income  from  this  and  one  or 
two  other  small  preferments  which  he  obtained,  made  up  about  two 
hundred  and  thirty  pounds  a  year.  As  his  congregation  consisted 
only  of  fifteen  persons  he  found  abundant  leisure  to  study  and  intrigue. 
He  seems  to  have  been  on  good  terms  with  the  successive  viceroys 
of  Ireland.  And  when  Addison  came  as  secretary  to  the  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant Wharton,  he  made  his  acquaintance,  an  acquaintance  which 
ripened  soon  into  a  fast  friendship.  Though  Dryden,  some  years 
before,  had  said  to  Swih,  ''  Cousin  Swift,  you  will  never  be  a  poet," 
he  began  at  this  time  to  write  verses  full  of  spirit  and  characterized 
by  sincerity  and  close  observation.  In  the  "  Petition  of  Mrs.  Frances 
Harris,"  a  chambermaid  who  had  lost  her  purse,  he  lays  bare  the 
workings  of  the  menial  intellect  with  the  clearness  of  a  master. 
"  Baucis  and  Philemon,"  a  humorous  travesty  of  one  of  Ovid's  poems, 
he  produced  about  the  same  time.  He  submitted  this  piece,  as  he  tells 
us,  to  the  criticism  of  Addison,  who  made  him  "  blot  out  four  score 
lines,  add  four  score,  and  alter  four  score,"  though  the  whole  con- 
sisted of  only  178  verses.  The  high  school  student  who  thinks  he  can 
dash  off  a  composition  without  revision  will  do  well  to  remember  this 
story. 
15 


i^e  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Laracor,  however,  was  too  small  to  hold  Swift.  In  fact,  Ireland 
was  too  small.  We  find  him,  accordingly,  after  a  while  spending 
most  of  his  time  in  London.  The  ostensible  reason  for  this  was  a 
mission  regarding  the  revenues  of  the  Irish  church,  but  the  real  reason, 
doubtless,  his  ambition  for  power,  notoriety,  and  society.  For  a  time 
we  find  him  associating  with  the  wits  of  the  Whig  party,  Steele  and 
Addison,  and  with  its  patrons  of  literature,  Somers  and  Halifax,  and 
endeavoring  to  obtain  from  them  certain  concessions  for  the  Irish 
Church.  Swift,  however,  was  singularly  unfortunate  in  gaining  from 
them  any  preferment  for  himself  or  any  consideration  for  his  Church, 
and  in  consequence  we  find  him,  in  1710,  joining  the  Tories,  whose 
leaders,  Harley  and  St.  John,  admitted  him,  not  indeed  into  their 
inner  councils,  but  to  their  intimacy,  which  was  flattering  to  his  vanity 
and  which  carried  with  it  much  real  power.  He  rewarded  them  by 
writing  effectively  against  the  policy  of  the  Whigs.  His  most  famous 
performance  in  this  connection  was  a  pamphlet  of  unique  power  called 
■'  The  Conduct  of  the  Allies."  His  whole  life  between  September  10, 
1710,  to  April,  1713,  is  described  in  great  detail  in  his  "  Journal  to 
Stella,"  a  series  of  notes  which  he  sent  from  London  to  Miss  Esther 
Johnson  in  Dublin.  One  of  the  most  noteworthy  evidences  of  his 
influence  at  this  period  is  found  in  the  fact  that  he  solicited  and 
obtained  subscriptions  aggregating  a  thousand  pounds  for  a  trans- 
lation of  Homer  by  his  young  friend,  Alexander  Pope. 

The  Whigs  were  in  power  until  1710.  The  Tories  were  in  power 
from  1710  until  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  in  1714,  after  which  the 
Whigs  enjoyed  an  almost  uninterrupted  supremacy  until  1760.  These 
dates  have  a  curious  correspondence  with  the  literary  careers  of  Swift 
and  Addison.  While  the  Tories  were  in  power.  Swift  wrote  little  and 
Addison  much,  and  vice  versa.  "  The  Battle  of  the  Books  "  and  "  The 
Tale  of  a  Tub  "  came  out  during  the  first  Whig  regime,  and  "  Gulli- 
ver's Travels  "  during  the  second.  Addison's  best  work,  "  The  Spec- 
tator," was  written  between  1710  and  1714.  In  1714,  at  the  death 
of  Queen  Anne,  Swift's  party  was  not  only  driven  from  office,  but  was 
practically  annihilated.  He  himself  barely  escaped  the  general  ruin, 
having  been  appointed  April  2,  1713,  as  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathe- 
dral, Dublin.    To  Dublin,  accordingly,  he  then  retired,  and  in  the 


JONATHAN  SWIFT  227 

retirement  of  his  ecclesiastical  office  he  spent  practically  all  of  his 
remaining  years. 

Swift's  exile  in  Ireland  has  been  compared  to  Napoleon's  exile  at 
St.  Helena.  He  himself  described  the  state  of  Ireland  with  a  vivid- 
ness that  cannot  be  surpassed.  He  says  that  it  had  been  reduced 
by  English  greed  to  a  condition  such  that  not  one  farmer  in  the  king- 
dom out  of  a  hundred  "  could  afford  shoes  or  stockings  to  his  children, 
or  to  eat  flesh  or  drink  anything  better  than  sour  milk  and  water 
twice  in  a  year;  so  that  the  whole  country,  except  the  Scotch  plan- 
tation in  the  north,  is  a  scene  of  misery  and  desolation  hardly  to  be 
matched  on  this  side  Lapland." 

In  1720,  he  published  a  pamphlet  in  which  he  exhorted  the  Irish 
to  use  only  Irish  manufactures.  At  this  time  he  applied  to  Ireland 
and  England  the  fable  of  "  Arachne  and  Pallas."  The  latter,  indig- 
nant at  being  equalled  in  spinning,  turned  Arachne  into  a  spider. 
England  is  Pallas.  She  compels  Arachne  to  spin  forever  for  her 
benefit.  The  printer  of  this  pamphlet  was  prosecuted,  but  the  unpopu- 
larity of  the  prosecution  became  so  great  that  it  was  dropped.  Four 
years  later  a  more  violent  agitation  broke  out.  A  patent  had  been 
given  to  a  certain  William  Wood  for  supplying  Ireland  with  a  copper 
coinage.  Many  complaints  of  dishonesty  in  obtaining  the  patent  had 
been  made,  and  it  was  claimed  that  Wood  had  been  guilty  of  frauds 
in  his  coinage.  Probably  out  of  about  seventy-four  pounds'  worth 
of  metal  he  made  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds'  worth  of  halfpence. 
At  all  events  Swift,  in  1724,  attacked  him  in  "  Drapier's  Letters,'" 
in  which  he  advised  the  people  to  boycott  the  halfpence.  The  Letters 
are  full  of  false  reasoning,  but  are  written  in  such  a  vein  of  common- 
sense  with  an  undercurrent  of  intense  passion  that  they  are  undeniably 
effective.  The  dauntless  front  which  Swift  here  showed  to  the  oppres- 
sors of  his  country  made  him  the  idol  of  the  Irish.  A  club  was  formed 
in  his  honor.  When  he  returned  from  England  in  1726,  bells  were 
rung,  bonfires  were  lighted,  and  a  guard  of  honor  escorted  him  to  the 
deanery.  Towns  voted  him  their  freedom  and  received  him  like  a 
prince.  When  the  prime  minister  spoke  of  arresting  him  he  was 
informed  that  the  messenger  would  require  a  guard  of  ten  thousand 
soldiers.    A  lawyer  who  had  complained  because  the  dean  had  called 


228  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

him  a  "  booby  "  lost  twelve  hundred  pounds  a  year  in  income.  When 
a  great  crowd  had  collected  to  see  an  eclipse,  Swift  sent  word  to  them 
that  the  eclipse  had  been  postponed  by  his  orders,  and  the  crowd  dis-  ; 
persed.  Popular  as  he  was,  however,  he  was  unhappy.  In  a  letter 
to  Bolingbroke  in  1729  he  wrote,  "  You  think,  as  I  ought  to  think, 
that  it  is  time  for  me  to  have  done  with  the  world;  and  so  I  would,  if 
I  could  get  into  a  better  before  I  was  called  into  the  best,  and  not 
die  here  in  a  rage,  like  a  poisoned  rat  in  a  hole."  The  state  of  mind 
to  which  he  here  alludes  is  still  further  in  evidence  in  the  "  Modest 
Proposal  (written  in  1729)  for  Preventing  the  Children  of  Poor 
People  in  Ireland  from  being  a  Burden  to  their  Parents  or  Country  " — 
the  proposal  being  that  they  should  be  turned  into  articles  of  food. 
The  latter  is  one  of  the  most  tremendous  pieces  of  satire  in  existence. 
It  is,  in  truth,  fearful  to  read  even  now;  but  we  can  sympathize  with 
Swift  if  we  remember  that  it  is  an  expression  of  burning  indignation 
against  intolerable  wrongs. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  all  of  Swift's  days  were 
unhappy.  At  all  events,  in  1726,  he  completed  and  published  the 
most  famous  of  his  books;  a  book  which  everybody  reads  even  to  this 
day;  a  book  which  is  equally  delightful  to  children  and  to  adults. 
"  Gulliver's  Travels  "  is  a  source  of  endless  pleasure  to  children 
because  of  the  story  which  it  contains,  a  source  of  pleasure  to  grown- 
ups because  they  find  in  it  a  bitter  satire  upon  the  shams  and  weak- 
nesses of  mankind.  The  work  is  divided  into  four  parts.  In  the  first 
part,  Mr.  Lemuel  Gulliver  makes  a  voyage  in  which  he  is  thrown 
among  the  Lilliputians,  whose  stature  is  to  man  as  one  inch  is  to  one 
foot.  In  the  second  part,  he  goes  to  Brobdingnag,  which  is  inhabited 
by  a  race  of  giants  twelve  times  as  big  as  men.  In  the  third  part,  he 
visits  Laputa,  where  he  finds  some  pedants  and  projectors  whom  he 
unjustly  but  picturesquely  satirizes.  Of  one  of  them  he  says  he  had 
been  eight  years  upon  a  project  of  ext/acting  sunbeams  out  of  cucum- 
bers, which  were  to  be  put  in  phials  hermetically  sealed  and  let  out 
to  warm  the  air  in  raw  inclement  summers.  He  also  visits  the  Strul- 
bugs,  who  are  old  men  that  have  outlived  their  usefulness  and  pleasure 
in  life  but  are  condemned  to  pass  eternity  in  that  condition.  In  Part 
Four,  he  goes  to  the  Houyhnhnms,  who  have  neither  vices  nor  enthu- 


JONATHAN  SWIFT  229 

siasm,  and  the  Yahoos,  who  are  mere  beasts  in  passion  and  appetite. 
The  first  and  second  voyages  are  characterized  by  great  humor  and 
deUghtful  wit.  The  third  and  fourth  are  terrible  by  reason  of  the 
gloom  and  misanthropy  which  pervade  them. 

Swift's  character  has,  perhaps,  been  more  misunderstood  than  that 
of  any  other  eminent  man.  In  truth  it  was  a  strange  mixture  of 
pride,  avarice,  charity,  and  kindness.  There  was  nothing  really 
miraculous  about  him  except  his  extraordinary  ability.  Perhaps  his 
most  noteworthy  characteristics  were  his  appalling  sincerity  and  his 
tyrannical  disposition.  He  seems  almost  always,  both  in  his  conver- 
sation and  in  his  writings,  to  have  said  exactly  what  he  thought.  His 
early  poverty  made  him  resolve  to  be  a  free  man  and  to  practise  rigid 
economy.  He  asserted  this  freedom  both  among  men  and  women 
with  a  frankness  that  bordered  on  brutality.  Yet  such  were  the  force 
of  his  character  and  the  charm  of  his  conversation  that  he  made  both 
his  slaves.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  at  least  three  ladies  broke 
their  hearts  on  account  of  their  affection  for  him  and  it  is  recorded 
that  in  his  later  days  a  whole  regiment  of  old  Irishwomen  were  his 
staunch  admirers  and  slaves.  He  browbeat  men  of  genius  and  minis- 
ters of  state  with  the  finest  disregard  of  consequences.  There  is  no 
record  that  he  ever  confessed  to  any  fault  except  that  of  being  too 
virtuous.  Somebody  said  that  he  had  the  Napoleonic  absence  of 
magnanimity.  Somebody  described  him  as  a  divine  who  is  hardly 
suspected  of  being  a  Christian.  Yet  there  was  a  softer  side  to  his 
character.  It  is  said  that  of  his  income  he  spent  only  one-third.  He 
gave  one-third  to  charity  and  he  saved  one-third  for  the  purpose  of 
founding  a  hospital.  The  sum  which  he  actually  left  for  this  purpose 
was  about  twelve  thousand  pounds.  Yet  even  this  deed  of  charity 
he  mockingly  ascribed  to  his  love  of  sarcasm,  saying: 

"  He  gave  the  little  wealth  he  had 
To  build  a  house  for  fools  and  mad; 
And  showed  by  one  satiric  touch 
No  nation  needed  it  so  much." 

His  life  indeed  has  been  called  a  sort  of  inverted  hypocrisy.     He 

appears  habitually  to  have  represented  himself  as  worse  than  he  was, 

the  underlying  cause  probably  being  a  kind  of  shyness  which  he  took 

this  means  of  concealing. 


230  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

It  is  probable  also  that  some  of  his  peculiarities  were  due  to  dis- 
ease. As  early  as  1712  he  was  attacked  by  giddiness.  In  1717  he  said 
to  Edward  Young,  the  author  of  the  "  Night  Thoughts,"  as  they  passed 
a  tree  which  had  been  struck  by  lightning  and  was  withered  at  the  top: 
"  I  shall  be  like  that  tree.  I  shall  die  at  the  top  first."  His  later 
years,  that  is,  from  1727  to  1745,  seem  to  have  been  passed  almost 
altogether  in  the  shadow  of  this  fear,  yet  the  picture  which  we  get 
of  his  life  during  this  time  is  not  altogether  melancholy.  We  see  him 
in  his  capacity  of  Dean,  fighting  with  the  Bishop  and  subduing  his 
subordinates.  We  see  him  dispensing  a  munificent  charity.  We  see 
him  on  friendly  terms  with  great  men,  with  the  Elder  Sheridan,  for 
instance,  who  spoiled  all  his  chances  of  promotion  in  the  church  by 
preaching  a  sermon  on  the  day  of  the  accession  of  George  II  with 
the  text,  "  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof,"  and  with  Car- 
teret, Viceroy  of  Ireland,  who,  upon  being  asked  how  he  had  succeeded 
in  Ireland  replied,  "  I  pleased  Dr.  Swift."  We  see  him  taking  pos- 
session of  the  country  homes  of  noble  friends,  supervising  their  studies, 
making  them  read  to  him,  giving  them  good  advice,  bullying  their 
servants,  and  cutting  down  their  trees.  We  see  him  writing  reams 
of  the  most  arrant  nonsense,  an  occupation  of  which  he  seems  to 
have  been  inordinately  fond.  We  see  him  bidding  good-night  to  one 
of  his  friends  with  the  words,  "  I  hope  I  shall  never  see  you  again." 
We  see  the  Bible  on  his  table  always  lying  open  at  the  chapter  in 
which  Job  curses  the  hour  of  his  birth.  We  see  him  sinking  gradually 
into  a  state  of  senility  in  which  he  was  a  burden  both  to  himself  and 
to  the  world.  He  died  October  19,  1745.  He  was  buried  in  St. 
Patrick's  Cathedral,  Dublin.  On  his  tombstone  was  inscribed  the 
last  and  most  terrible  of  the  phrases  which  are  associated  with  his 

name,  u^^,^  •    ,. 

Ubi  sseva  indignatio 

Cor  ulterius   lacerare  nequit." 

"  Where  Litter  indignation  can  lacerate  the  heart  no  more." 

A  few  quotations  will  perhaps  give  a  better  idea  of  Swift's  genius 

than  much  description.     The  following  are  fairly  characteristic: 

"  So,  naturalists  observe  a  flea 
Has  smaller  fleas  that  on  him  prey; 
And  these  have  smaller  still  to  bite  'em  ; 
And  so  proceed  ad  infinitum." 


JONATHAN  SWIFT  !231 

"  And  he  gave  it  for  his  opinion,  that  whoever  could  make  two  ears 
of  corn,  or  two  blades  of  grass,  to  grow  upon  a  spot  of  ground  where 
only  one  grew  before,  would  deserve  better  of  mankind,  and  do  more 
essential  service  to  his  country,  than  the  whole  race  of  politicians  put 
together." 

"  It  is  a  maxim,  that  those  to  whom  everybody  allows  the  second  place 
have  an  undoubted  title  to  the  first." 

"  Bread  is  the  stafif  of  life." 

"  He  made  it  a  part  of  his  religion  never  to  say  grace  to  his  meat." 

"  The  two  noblest  things,  which  are  sweetness  and  light." 

"  The  reason  why  so  few  marriages  are  happy  is  because  young  ladies 
spend  their  time  in  making  nets,  not  in  making  cages." 

"  Censure  is  the  tax  a  man  pays  to  the  pulilic  for  being  eminent." 

"  She's  no  chicken  ;  she's  on  the  wrong  side  of  thirty,  if  she  be  a  day." 

"Lord  M.     What  religion  is  he  of?" 

"Lord  Sp.     Why,  he  is  an  Anythingarian." 

"  He  was  a  bold  man  that  first  ate  an  oyster." 

"  Lord  !     I  wonder  what  fool  it  was  that  first  invented  kissing." 

"  The  best  doctors  in  the  world  are  Doctor  Diet,  Doctor  Quiet,  and 
Doctor  Merryman." 


QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  prompted  Swift  to  write  "  The  Battle  of  the  Books  "? 

2.  In   what   way   may   Swift's   relations    with    Sir    William   Temple   have 

affected  his  life? 

3.  What  did  Swift  do  for  Ireland? 

4.  "Gulliver's  Travels  "  are  read  by  young  and  old.     Why? 

5.  Would  Swift  have  made  a  pleasant  companion?     State  your  reasons. 

6.  Were  Swift  and  his  contemporaries  the  first  literary  men  of  genius  to 

use  their  pens  for  political  purposes  ? 

7.  Who  was  Stella? 

8.  Have  the  greatest  writers  been  wide  readers? 

9.  Who  wrote  "  Night  Thoughts  "  ? 

10.  Compare  the  character  of  Dryden  with  that  of  Swift. 

Suggested  Readings. — Of  Swift's  works  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  "  The 
Battle  of  the  Books,"  and  "  The  Tale  of  a  Tub,"  appeal  most  strongly  to 
the  modern  taste.  Leslie  Stephen's  "  Swift"  in  the  English  Men  of  Letters 
Series  is  the  best  short  life.     Thackeray's  lecture  on  Swift  is  capital. 


CHAPTER  XX 
JOSEPH  ADDISON  (1672-1719) 

■'  He  was  above  all  men  in  that  talent  called  humour." 

— Sir  R.  Steele. 
"  He  taught  us  how  to  live,  and  (oh  ?  too  high 
The  price  of  knowledge)   taught  us  how  to  die." 

—Tickell. 

In  1660,  with  the  Restoration  of  the  House  of  Stuart  to  the 
English  throne,  there  was  a  revolt  in  literature  against  the  severe 
morality  of  the  Puritans.  As  a  result  of  this  change,  the  fashionable 
literature  of  the  period  became  deeply  tainted  with  immorality.  The 
drama  especially  sank  to  depths  which  it  had  never  before  touched 
and  which  it  has  since  avoided  down  to,  but  not  including,  our  own 
day.  Even  John  Dryden,  the  greatest  poet  of  the  age,  was  infected 
by  the  epidemic  until  he  was  sharply  reprimanded  by  Jeremy  Collier, 
a  clergyman.  Collier's  "  Short  View  of  the  English  Stage  "  indeed  did 
much  to  improve  these  conditions,  but  it  was  left  to  a  greater  and  a 
wiser  man  to  render  decency  popular. 

Joseph  Addison  was  born  May  1,  1672,  at  Milston,  near  Ames- 
bury,  in  Wiltshire.  His  father,  Lancelot  Addison,  was  Dean  of  Lich- 
field Cathedral  and  an  author  of  some  note.  He  had  three  brothers 
and  three  sisters,  all  clever.  He  went  to  school  successively  at  Ames- 
bury,  Lichfield,  and  the  Charter  House.  At  Amesbury,  he  ran  away 
and  hid  in  a  hollow  tree;  at  Lichfield,  he  distinguished  himself  by  being 
the  ring  leader  in  a  "  barring  out,"  whatever  that  may  be;  and  at  the 
Charter  House  he  devoted  himself  with  much  success  to  the  study 
of  the  classics.  He  became  so  proficient,  indeed,  in  the  writing  of 
Latin  verse  that  one  critic  said  that  he  was  superior  to  any  Latin 
poet  since  Virgil. 

In  1687,  he  entered  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  where  he  remained 
until  1689.  Dr.  Lancaster,  who  had  read  some  of  his  Latin  poems, 
then  secured  him  the  position  of  Demy  at  Magdalen  College,  a  Demy- 
ship  being  probably,  as  the  name  signifies,  half  a  scholarship.  His 
studies  throughout  this  period  were  chiefly  directed  toward  prepara- 
232 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  233 

tion  for  holy  orders,  but  circumstances  arose  which  turned  his  atten- 
tion toward  literature. 

In   1693,  he  published  an  account  of   the  great  English  poets 


JOSEPH  ADDISON 
1672 — 1719 

written  in  heroic  couplets  and  remarkable  chiefly  because  of  the  out- 
rageous conception  of  Spenser  which  they  contained.  He  also  busied 
himself  somewhat  with  translating  Virgil  and  Ovid.  The  most  im- 
portant result  of  these  exercises  was  that  he  was  introduced  to 
Dryden,  who  was  himself  busy  at  the  time  on  his  translation  of 


234  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Virgil,  and  who  said  of  Addison's  translation,  "  After  his  '  Bees  '  my 
later  swarm  is  hardly  worth  the  hiving."  Through  these  writings, 
Addison  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Charles  Montague,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Halifax.  Montague  was  aware  of  the  political  influence  which 
a  man  of  Addison's  literary  ability  could  secure  for  a  party  and, 
accordingly,  promised  the  young  author  that,  if  he  would  go  abroad 
to  study  for  the  diplomatic  service,  he  would  obtain  for  him  a  pension 
of  three  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Addison  accepted  the  offer  and 
in  the  summer  of  1699  went  to  the  Continent,  carrying  with  him  some 
copies  of  his  Latin  poems  as  an  introduction  to  the  schools  and  some 
letters  from  Halifax  as  a  passport  to  the  society  of  statesmen. 

European  travel  in  those  days  was  not  as  safe  and  comfortable  as 
it  has  since  become.  Bad  roads  and  bandits  were  apt  to  provide  plenty 
of  excitement.  It  was  customary,  none  the  less,  for  young  gentlemen 
to  finish  their  education  by  making  what  was  called  "  The  Grand 
Tour."  They  were  not  wanting  critics  who  maintained  that  the  only 
result  of  this  custom,  in  most  cases,  was  that  the  pupils  gathered  every 
vice  on  Christian  ground,  spoiled  their  own  language,  and  acquired 
no  other.  Addison,  however,  was  a  young  man  of  remarkably  high 
character.  Somebody  indeed  called  him  a  parson  in  a  tye-wig.  He 
had  also  reached  at  this  time  the  mature  age  of  28.  He  travelled  for  a 
definite  and  serious  purpose  and  made  good  use  of  his  opportunities. 
He  was  gone  from  England  for  four  years,  from  1699  to  1703.  The 
first  eighteen  months  he  spent  in  France,  occupying  himself  mainly 
with  learning  the  language,  a  complete  knowledge  of  which  was  neces- 
sary at  that  time  to  a  diplomat.  In  December,  1700,  he  proceeded 
to  Italy,  visiting  among  other  places  Genoa,  Milan,  Verona,  Venice, 
Rome,  Naples,  Pisa,  Florence,  Bologna,  and  Turin. 

In  the  December  of  1701,  he  left  Italy,  making  his  way  by  way  of 
Geneva,  Berne,  Zurich,  and  Innsbruck  to  Vienna.  He  returned  home 
in  the  autumn  of  1 703  through  Germany  and  Holland.  Aside  from  his 
correspondence,  the  chief  literary  results  of  this  period  are  a  volume 
in  prose  called  "  Remarks  on  Italy,"  a  letter  to  Halifax  in  verse,  and 
a  dialogue  on  "  Medals."  The  foreshadowings  of  the  style  of  the 
"  Spectator"  appear  here  and  there  in  these  writings;  for  instance, 
of  a  certain  picture  at  Versailles  he  writes:  "  The  painter  has  repre- 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  235 

sented  his  most  Xtian  Majesty  under  ye  figure  of  Jupiter  throwing 

thunderbolts  all  about  the  ceiling,  and  striking  terror  into  ye  Danube 

and  Rhine,  that  lie  astonished  and  blasted  a  little  above  the  Cornice." 

He  describes  the  French  as  follows:  "  Truly,  by  what  I  have  yet  seen, 

they  are  the  Happiest  nation  in  the  world.     'Tis  not  in  the  pow'r  of 

Want  or  Slavery  to  make  'em  miserable.     There  is  nothing  to  be  met 

with  in  the  Country  but  Mirth  and  Poverty.     Ev'ry  one  sings,  laughs, 

and  starves.     Their  Women  are  perfect  Mistresses  in  this  Art  of 

showing  themselves  to  the  best  advantage.     They  are  always  gay  and 

sprightly,  and  set  off  ye  worst  faces  in  Europe  with  ye  best  airs."     The 

lines  to  Halifax  contain  some  of  the  best  verses  Addison  ever  wrote. 

For  instance, 

"  Poetic   fields   encompass   me   around, 
And  still  I  seem  to  tread  on  classic  ground ; 
For  here  the  Muse  so  oft  her  harp  has  strung, 
That  not  a  mountain  rears  its  head  unsung; 
Renowned  in  verse  each  shady  thicket  grows, 
And  every  stream  in  heavenly  numbers  Hows." 

The  phrase  "  classic  ground,"  here  used  for  the  first  time,  has  become 
proverbial. 

Addison's  return  to  England  was  probably  hastened  by  the  death 
of  William  III,  which  occurred  in  1702,  and  caused  the  loss  of  his 
pension.  His  fortunes  at  this  time  reached  their  lowest  ebb.  For  a 
while  he  lived  in  a  garret  in  Grub  Street.  It  was  a  time,  however, 
when  the  services  of  skilful  writers  were  in  demand.  The  Revolution 
of  1688  had  definitely  shifted  political  power  from  the  Crown  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  In  consequence,  there  was  no  method  of  retain- 
ing political  influence  except  through  the  press.  In  the  reign  of 
James  II,  Dryden  had  performed  immense  services  in  this  direction 
and  had  been  rewarded  by  having  his  salary  as  Poet  Laureate  reduced 
one  hundred  pounds  a  year.  The  Whigs  were  wiser.  We  have  already 
seen  how  Montague  had  taken  steps  to  secure  Addison's  literary 
services  for  the  party.  Upon  his  return  he  was  made  a  member  of  the 
great  Whig  Club,  "  The  Kit  Kat." 

The  next  year,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  vanquished  the  French 
at  Blenheim.  The  Prime  Minister,  Godolphin,  thinking  that  the 
victory  should  be  poetically  commemorated  and  being  unable  to  find 
among  the  Tories  anybody  who  was  capable  of  doing  justice  to  the 


^36  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

subject,  applied  to  Halifax  for  assistance,  and  by  him  was  introduced 
to  Addison.  The  result  was  that  Addison  produced  his  poem,  "  The 
Campaign."  It  achieved  an  enormous  success,  though  it  was  written 
in  a  style  severely  plain  and  by  somebody  was  criticized  as  being  noth- 
ing but  a  Gazette  in  rhyme.  As  a  reward  he  was  made,  first  a  Com- 
missioner of  Appeals,  and  within  two  years  Under-Secretary  of 
State.  These  political  appointments  interfered  with  his  Uterary  activ- 
ity, between  1704  and  1710,  to  such  an  extent  that  during  these  six 
years  he  wrote  practically  nothing  except  an  unsuccessful  opera  called 
"  Rosamond." 

In  1708  he  went  to  Ireland  as  Secretary  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
Wharton.  There  he  met  Dean  Swift,  whom  he  called  the  most  agree- 
able companion,  the  truest  friend,  and  the  greatest  genius  of  his  age. 
In  1710,  by  a  revolution  in  public  opinion,  the  Whigs  were  turned 
out  of  their  jobs.  The  blow  was  a  severe  one  to  Addison.  To  a 
friend  we  find  him  writing  at  this  time:  "  Within  a  twelve-month,  I 
have  lost  a  position  worth  two  thousand  pounds  a  year,  an  estate  of 
fourteen  thousand  pounds,  and  what  is  worse  my  fiancee." 

These  misfortunes,  however,  were  not  an  unmixed  evil  either  for 
Addison  or  for  the  world.  The  leisure  thus  forced  upon  him  made 
it  possible  for  him  to  devote  himself  during  the  next  four  years  to 
literature  and  in  so  doing  to  perform  the  greatest  public  service  of 
his  life.  This  took  the  form  of  the  publication  of  two  papers,  "  The 
Tatler  "  and  "  The  Spectator."  Like  Shakespeare's  plays,  these  pub- 
lications were  not  an  isolated  or  an  inexplicable  phenomenon.  They 
represented  the  final  stage  in  a  long  journey.  The  newspaper  had 
been  in  process  of  evolution  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  The  first 
paper,  "  The  Gazetta,"  was  published  in  Venice  in  manuscript  in 
1536.  At  the  end  of  that  century,  pamphlets  were  printed  in  Italy 
at  such  irregular  intervals  as  the  receipt  of  extraordinary  news  de- 
manded, a  system  which  has  much  to  commend  it.  Between  1641 
and  1682  there  was  almost  a  constant  struggle  in  England  between 
the  government  and  the  publishers  of  Mercuries,  as  the  newspapers 
were  then  called.  The  authorities  strove  to  suppress  the  publication 
of  unwelcome  news  by  means  of  licensing  a  monopoly.  By  1682  the 
futility  of  suppression  had  come  to  be  pretty  well  understood  and 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  237 

from  that  time  the  "  freedom  of  the  press  "  may  be  said  to  date.  The 
first  daily,  "  The  Courant,"  was  established  in  1702.  The  way  for 
"  The  Tatler  "  and  "  The  Spectator  "  had,  therefore,  been  prepared 
by  a  long  series  of  more  or  less  successful  experiments. 

"  The  Tatler  "  was  founded  by  Sir  Richard  Steele.  He  had 
known  Addison  from  childhood.  They  had  been  together  at  the 
Charter  House  and  at  Oxford.  Steele  had  left  college  without  taking 
a  degree,  had  led  a  vagrant  life,  had  served  in  the  army,  and  had 
written  some  religious  pamphlets  and  several  comedies.  He  was  one 
of  those  persons  whom  it  is  possible  neither  to  hate  nor  to  respect. 
His  life  was  spent  in  sinning  and  repenting,  in  preaching  what  was 
right  and  doing  what  was  wrong.  "  He  was,"  as  somebody  said,  "  a 
creature  of  ebullient  heart."  He  had  in  a  high  degree  invention, 
humor,  taste,  and  sympathy.  The  first  number  of  "  The  Tatler  "  was 
published  April  12,  1799,  by  Steele  without  the  assistance  of  Addison. 
The  motto  of  the  publication  was  "  Quidquid  agunt  homines  nostri 
est  farrago  libelli,"  "  Whatever  men  do  is  the  subject  of  our  book," 
a  motto  which,  by  the  way,  recently  stood  at  the  head  of  a  famous 
column  which  appears  daily  on  the  editorial  page  of  the  Chicago  Trib- 
une. In  its  columns  Steele  called  attention  to  the  merits  of  Shake- 
speare and  Milton,  both  of  whom  were  then  almost  totally  neglected; 
made  valiant  attacks  on  gambling  and  dueling;  addressed  himself 
largely  to  the  interests  of  women,  a  thing  which  had  not  been  done 
previously  by  any  writer;  and  above  everything  else  attacked  the 
indecency  which  characterized  the  age.  Steele's  two-fold  character 
fitted  him  admirably,  somebody  has  said,  to  bridge  the  chasm  between 
the  Cavaliers  and  the  Puritans.  Addison  did  not  even  know  who 
was  the  editor  of  the  paper  until  one  of  the  early  numbers  reached 
him  in  Ireland.  He  was  so  much  interested  in  its  scope  and  character 
that  he  then  wrote  to  Steele  offering  to  assist  him.  Steele  gladly 
accepted  the  proffered  help,  though  he  may  later  have  regretted  it,  but 
said  generously:  "  I  fared  like  a  distressed  prince  who  calls  in  a 
powerful  neighbor  to  his  aid;  when  I  had  once  called  him  in  I  could 
not  subsist  without  dependence  on  him."  The  chief  credit  for  '■  The 
Tatler,"  however,  must  be  accorded  to  Steele.  He  furnished  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  papers,  while  Addison  ontributed  only 


^288  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

forty-two.  The  publication  was  discontinued  January  2,  1710.  This 
was  done,  not  because  the  publication  was  losing  ground,  but  because 
the  two  friends  had  already  in  view  another  publication  on  an  im- 
proved plan.  "  The  Tatler  "  from  the  beginning  was  political.  As 
both  Addison  and  Steele  were  under  some  obligations  to  the  Tories, 
who  came  into  power  in  1710,  they  decided  to  eliminate  politics. 
"  The  Tatler  "  had  appeared  three  times  a  week.  "  The  Spectator," 
which  made  its  first  appearance  March  1,  1710,  came  out  daily  until 
December  6,  1712.  "  The  Tatler  "  had  been  written  under  the  some- 
what clumsy  disguise  of  a  publication  by  one  fictitious  name,  Isaac 
Bickerstaff.  "  The  Spectator  "  writes  as  the  humble  member  of  a 
club.  His  avowed  object  was  to  create  a  rational  standard  of  conduct 
in  morals,  manners,  arts,  and  literature.  Particular  attention  was 
given  to  women,  so  much  indeed  as  to  excite  the  disgust  of  Swift. 
Of  the  papers,  Addison  wrote  274  and  Steele  236.  They  were  signed 
by  one  of  the  initials  C.  L.  I.  O.  One  writer  says  that  these  refer 
to  the  name  of  one  of  the  Muses;  another  to  Chelsea,  Islington,  Lon- 
don, and  the  Office,  thus  indicating  the  place  of  composition.  The 
daily  circulation  seems  sometimes  to  have  reached  fourteen  thousand, 
and  after  the  papers  were  collected  into  volumes  it  is  said  that  nine 
thousand  copies  were  sold  at  a  guinea  apiece.  It  became  the  fashion 
for  all  educated  people  to  read  the  paper  at  breakfast,  a  scheme 
which  might  well  be  adopted  by  a  student  of  to-day  who  wishes  to 
enjoy  in  their  perfection  the  flavor  of  these  little  essays,  for  they 
are  nothing  else.  The  "  Spectator  "  was  revived  by  Addison  two 
years  after  its  discontinuance,  appearing  three  times  a  week  between 
June  18,  1714,  and  December  20  of  the  same  year. 

During  his  travels  in  Italy,  Addison  had  written  four  acts  of  a 
tragedy  called  "  Cato."  Upon  his  return  to  England  he  had  shown 
it  to  several  of  his  friends,  among  them  Pope,  who  earnestly  en- 
treated him  not  to  allow  it  to  be  acted  but  to  be  content  with  publish- 
ing it.  Pope's  advice  was  undoubtedly  sound,  for  Addison,  inspired 
by  his  classical  studies,  had  constructed  the  play  on  the  plan  of  a 
Greek  drama  as  modified  by  the  French  tragic  writers,  Corneille 
and  Racine.  In  Greek  tragedy,  man  is  represented  as  being  the  vic- 
tim of  external  forces.     In  a  Shakespearean  drama,  on  the  other  hand, 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  239 

he  acts  and  fails  on  account  of  defects  of  mind  and  will.  The  Greek 
tragic  writers  also  observe  what  are  called  the  unities  of  time,  place, 
and  action.  In  other  words,  they  do  not  permit  a  change  of  scenery, 
the  entire  action  of  a  play  is  confined  by  them  to  twenty-four  hours, 
and  only  one  theme  is  allowed.  Shakespeare,  on  the  other  hand, 
pays  so  little  attention  to  these  requirements  that  Voltaire  called  him 
"  an  inspired  barbarian."  In  his  efforts  to  produce  a  play  which 
should  conform  to  the  Greek  rules  of  art,  Addison  succeeded  in  writing 
a  drama  entirely  wanting  in  action  and  humor.  Instead,  though,  he 
produced  a  poem  that  contains  many  quotable  lines.     For  instance: 

"  'Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  success, 
But   we'll   do   more,    Sempronius, — we'll    deserve    it." 

"  My  voice  is  still  for  war. 
Gods !  can  a  Roman  senate  long  debate 
Which  of  the  two  to  choose,  slavery  or  death?" 

"  A  day,  an  hour,  of  virtuous  liberty 
Is  worth  a  whole  eternity  in  bondage." 

"  What  a  pity  is  it 
That  we  can  die  but  once  to  save  our  country  !  " 

"  When  vice  prevails,  and  impious  men  b^ar  sway, 
The  post  of  honour  is  a  private  station."  .  ■'^' 

As  every  school  boy  knows,  Cato  was  one  of  the  Romans  who 
perished  in  resisting  the  ambition  of  Julius  Caesar.  In  1713,  the 
Whigs  and  Tories  were  accusing  each^other  of  trying  to  overthrow  the 
legitimate  government  of  England.  Some  of  Addison's  friends,  think- 
ing that  the  public  would  read  into  Cato  a  series  of  allusions  to  the 
existing  political  situation,  persuaded  him  to  allow  it  to  be  acted.  The 
result  was  a  huge  success.  It  ran  for  thirty-five  nights,  which  was 
quite  unprecedented  at  that  time.  The  Whigs  and  Tories  vied  in 
detecting  in  its  well-turned  lines  references  to  one  another's  short- 
comings. 

In  1714  Addison  entered  upon  another  period  of  political  activity. 
In  that  year  Queen  Anne  died,  and  with  the  accession  of  George  I 
the  Whigs  entered  upon  a  long  period  of  power.  During  the  remaining 
years  of  his  life,  Addison  occupied,  first  the  position  of  Commissioner 
for  Trade  and  the  Colonies,  and,  later,  that  of  Secretary  of  State. 


240  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

During  the  brief  period  when  the  position  of  George  I  was  threatened 
by  the  rebelUon  in  1715,  he  pubUshed  a  paper  called  "The  Free- 
holder," in  which  he  effectively  defended  the  policy  of  the  Whigs. 

He  was  married  in  1716  to  Charlotte,  Countess  of  Warwick, 
and  took  up  his  residence  at  Holland  House.  He  was  not  destined, 
however,  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  success,  being  so  tormented  by 
asthma  that  he  was  forced,  on  March  18,  1718,  to  resign  his  position 
as  Secretary  of  State.  He  died  June  17,  1719,  and  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  The  scene  is  thus  described  by  his  friend, 
Thomas  Tickell: 

"  Can  I  forget  the  dismal  night  that  gave 
My  soul's  best  part  for  ever  to  the  grave? 
How  silent  did  his  old  companions  tread, 
By  midnight  lamps,  the  mansions  of  the  dead, 
Through  breathing  statues,  then  unheeded  things, 
Through  rows  of  warriors,  and  tlirough  walks  of  kings! 
What  awe  did  the  slow  solemn  march  inspire, 
The  pealing  organ,  and  the  pausing  choir ; 
The  duties  by  the  lawn-robed  prelate  paid. 
And  the  last  words  that  dust  to  dust  conveyed  ! 
While  speechless  o'er  the  closing  grave  we  bend. 
Accept  these  tears,  thou  dear  departed  friend  ! 
Oh  gone  for  ever ;  take  this  last  adieu. 
And  sleep  in  peace  next  thy  loved  Montague." 

Few  people  are  likely  to-day  to  read  "  The  Spectator  "  straight 
through  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  it.  Yet  most  of  the  papers  are  still 
delightful  and  vital,  being  full  of  sweet  wit  and  sunny  humor.  They 
contain  a  digest  of  the  principles  of  behavior  not  yet  obsolete  and 
sorely  needed  in  these  days.  The  best  way  to  read  them  is  as  our 
forefathers  read  them:  one  page  each  morning  with  the  rolls  and  the 
coffee.  This  was  Addison's  suggestion.  A  person  who  should  read  one 
of  "  The  Spectators  "  each  morning  instead  of  the  current  newspaper 
would,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  probably  know  as  much  as  he  now  does 
of  what  is  going  on  in  the  world  and  would,  in  addition,  be  a  better 
writer  and  a  better  man.  The  value  and  interest  of  these  papers  per- 
haps can  be  made  clear  through  the  medium  of  a  little  analysis: 

Thursday,  March  1,  1711.— The  Spectator  gives  an  account  of 
himself. 

Friday,  March  2.— He  describes  his  friends,  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley, 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  241 

The  Templar,  Sir  Andrew  Freeport,  Captain  Sentry,  Will  Honey- 
comb, and  the  Clergyman. 

Saturday,  March  3. — He  writes  about  public  credit. 

Monday,  March  5. — He  announces  that  he  will  address  himself  on 
certain  days  to  the  ladies  and  will  advocate  constancy  in  love  affairs 
as  much  as  constancy  in  friendship. 

Tuesday,  March  6. — He  gives  a  criticism  of  Italian  Opera  in  par- 
ticular and  of  elaborate  scenery  in  general. 

Wednesday,  March  7. — The  thesis  is  maintained  that  it  is  better 
to  cultivate  virtue  than  manners. 

Thursday,  March  8. — He  publishes  a  satire  on  such  superstitions 
as  spilling  salt,  crossing  knives  and  forks,  and  having  thirteen  at  table. 

The  paper  of  Friday,  March  9,  is  a  satire  on  public  dance  halls, 
and  that  of  Saturday,  March  10,  is  a  delightful  essay  on  clubs,  which 
each  student  should  read  in  its  entirety. 

To  describe  all  of  .these  papers  is  of  course  impossible.  Let  us 
pass  to  that  of  March  30,  1711.  Addison  on  that  day  goes  to  West- 
minster Abbey  and  muses  among  the  graves  and  tombstones.  First 
he  finds  many  persons  recorded  who  are  celebrated  for  nothing  but 
having  been  knocked  upon  the  head;  their  lives  have  left  no  more 
mark  on  the  world  than  the  flight  of  an  arrow  through  the  air.  He 
sees  a  new  grave  and  as  shovel  after  shovel  of  dirt  is  thrown  up  thinks 
how  the  remains  of  men  are  there  mixed  in  one  indistinguishable  hecp 
of  mortality.  The  Greek  and  Latin  inscriptions  seem  to  him  exces- 
sively modest;  nobody  can  understand  them.  In  the  poetical  quarter 
he  finds  poets  who  have  no  monuments  and  monuments  which  have 
no  poets.  Some  of  the  monuments  are  in  bad  taste;  a  sailor  should 
not  be  represented  as  a  beau.  He  closes  with  these  words:  "  When 
I  look  upon  the  Tombs  of  the  Great,  every  Emotion  of  Envy  dies  in 
me;  when  I  read  the  Epitaphs  of  the  Beautiful,  every  inordinate  desire 
goes  out;  when  I  meet  with  the  Grief  of  Parents  upon  a  Tombstone, 
my  heart  melts  with  Compassion;  when  I  see  the  Tomb  of  the  Parents 
themselves,  I  consider  the  Vanity  of  Grieving  for  those  whom  we 
must  quickly  follow;  when  I  see  Kings  lying  by  those  who  deposed 
them,  when  I  see  rival  Wits  placed  side  by  side,  or  the  holy  Men  that 
divided  the  World  with  their  Contests  and  Disputes,  I  reflect  with 
16 


242  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Sorrow  and  Astonishment  on  the  little  Competitions,  Factions,  and 
Debates  of  Mankind.  When  I  read  the  several  Dates  of  the  Tombs, 
of  some  that  died  Yesterday  and  some  six  hundred  Years  ago,  I  con- 
sider that  great  Day  when  we  shall  all  of  us  be  Contemporaries,  and 
make  our  Appearance  together." 

In  Paper  34,  April  9,  1711,  a  meeting  of  the  club  is  described. 
Each  member  commends  the  Spectator  for  the  satire  he  has  applied 
to  everybody  except  his  own  class.  Thus  every  subject  of  speculation 
is  taken  away  from  him  until  he  finds  himself  in  the  condition  of  the 
good  man  who  had  one  wife  who  objected  to  his  gray  hairs  and  another 
to  his  black.  The  clergj^man,  however,  comes  to  his  rescue  and  the 
club  agrees  to  let  him  proceed.  On  his  part  he  promises  never  to 
draw  a  faulty  character  which  does  not  fit  at  least  a  thousand  people 
or  to  publish  a  single  paper  that  is  not  written  in  the  spirit  of 
benevolence  and  with  a  love  to  mankind. 

Paper  45,  on  the  influence  of  the  French  on  the  Manners  of 
English  Ladies,  contains  this:  "  What  sprightly  transitions  does  she 
make  from  an  opera  or  a  sermon  to  an  ivory  comb  or  a  pincushion? 
How  have  I  been  pleased  to  see  her  holding  her  tongue,  in  the  midst 
of  a  moral  reflection,  by  applying  the  tip  of  it  to  a  patch?  "  This 
picture  is  precise  and  firm.  Not  less  so  is  that  of  the  lady  at  Macbeth 
who  cried:  "  When  will  the  dear  witches  enter?  "  The  race  to  which 
she  belonged  is  not  extinct,  nor  is  that  of  the  ladies  who  thought  it  ill- 
breeding  and  a  kind  of  female  pedantry  to  pronounce  a  hard  word 
right. 

Paper  239,  on  debates,  has  a  good  framework.  Addison  says 
that  there  are  several  ways  of  overthrowing  an  opponent : 

1.  The  Socratic,  which  is  to  agree  with  him. 

2.  The  Aristotelian,  or  syllogistic,  which  is  to  dispute  with  him. 

3.  The  Argumentum  Basilinum  (Club-Law). 

4.  The  Logic  of  Kings  (i.e.,  Legions). 

5.  The  Rack  (a  kind  of  Syllogism  which  has  made  Multitudes 
of  Converts). 

6.  Gold  (a  wonderful  clearer  of  the  Understanding). 

In  433  and  434,  he  discusses  the  segregation  of  the  sexes  with 
much  humor.     Two  nations,  one  of  men,  the  other  of  women,  lived 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  243 

side  by  side  without  commingling.  The  men  were  rough  and  ill-kempt. 
The  little  girls  fought  together  like  boys.  No  blush  was  seen  nor  sigh 
heard  in  the  whole  commonwealth.  Military  reverses  overtook  the 
women  because  one  of  their  generals  had  the  vapors;  a  union  of  the 
nations  followed,  and  civilization  began. 

Number  441  is  a  very  beautiful  religious  meditation,  contain- 
ing Addison's  translation  of  the  Twenty-third  Psalm;  similarly 
465  is  enriched  with  the  fine  hymn,  "  The  spacious  firmament  on 
high." 

In  478  we  have  a  httle  lesson  in  rhetoric.  It  touches  on  the  nature 
of  the  essay,  on  Seneca  and  Montaigne,  and  on  the  value  of  methodical 
arrangement.  "  Do  not  cast  your  pearls  down  before  the  reader 
in  a  heap,"  says  Addison.     "  Take  pains  to  string  them." 

Numbers  584  and  585  relate  the  Loves  of  Hilpa  and  Shalum,  who 
were  antediluvian  lovers.  The  humor  of  the  paper  is  built  up  on  the 
Mosaic  account  of  the  vast  ages  attained  by  Methuselah  and  his 
contemporaries.  Hilpa  was  one  of  the  150  daughters  of  Zilpah. 
When  she  was  but  a  girl  of  70  she  began  to  be  besieged  by  lovers. 
At  100  she  married  Harpeth,  a  rich  rival  of  Shalum's.  When  she  was 
160  and  had  had  50  children,  Harpeth  was  drowned.  After  a  decent 
interval  of  ten  years,  Shalum  renewed  his  court.  One  of  his  love 
letters,  which  she  answered  promptly  (that  is,  after  a  year)  is  still 
extant.  In  it  he  invited  her  to  a  kind  of  entertainment,  half  house- 
party  and  half  picnic,  which  lasted  two  years.  So  eloquent  was  he 
on  this  occasion  that  she  gave  him  her  promise  to  return  a  positive 
answer  in  less  than  fifty  years.  She  was  as  good  as  her  word,  for  she 
married  him  twenty  years  later. 

Of  Addison's  innumerable  beauties  of  detail,  his  delicate  flashes 
of  genius,  the  following  specimens  are  neither  better  nor  worse  than 
thousands  of  others,  but  may  serve  to  give  an  idea  of  their  general 
character: 

"  I  have  observed  that  a  Reader  seldom  peruses  a  Book  with 
Pleasure  till  he  knows  whether  the  Writer  of  it  be  a  black  or  fair 
Man,  of  a  mild  or  cholerick  Disposition,  Married  or  a  Bachelor,  with 
other  Particulars  of  the  like  Nature,  that  conduce  very  much  to  the 
ri-ht  Understanding  of  an  Author." 


244  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  It  was  said  of  Socrates,  that  he  brought  Philosophy  down  from 
Heaven  to  inhabit  among  Men;  and  I  shall  be  ambitious  to  have 
it  said  of  me,  that  I  have  brought  Philosophy  out  of  Closets  and 
Libraries,  Schools  and  Colleges,  to  dwell  in  Clubs  and  Assemblies,  at 
Tea-Tables,  and  in  Coffee-Houses." 

"  The  Toilet  is  their  great  Scene  of  Business,  and  the  right  Adjust- 
ing of  their  Hair  the  principal  Employment  of  their  lives." 

"  I  look  upon  a  sound  Imagination  as  the  greatest  Blessing  of 
Life,  next  to  a  clear  Judgment  and  a  good  Conscience." 

"  The  King  or  Hero  of  the  Play  generally  spoke  in  Italian,  and 
his  Slaves  answered  him  in  English.  ...  At  length  the  Audi- 
ence grew  tired  of  understanding  half  the  Opera,  and  therefore  to 
ease  themselves  entirely  of  the  fatigue  of  thinking,  have  so  ordered 
it  at  Present  that  the  whole  Opera  is  performed  in  an  unknown 
Tongue." 

"  It  is  infinitely  more  honorable  to  be  a  Good-Natured  Man 
than  a  Wit." 

"  The  profess'd  Beauties  .  .  .  are  a  People  almost  as  insuffer- 
able as  the  profess'd  Wits." 

"  One  may  observe  that  Women  in  all  Ages  have  taken  more 
Pains  than  Men  to  adorn  the  Outside  of  their  Heads." 

"  Singing  the  Psalms  in  a  different  Tune  from  the  Rest  of  the 
Congregation  is  a  Sort  of  Schism  not  Tolerated  by  the  Act." 

"  Talking  with  a  friend  is  nothing  else  but  Thinking  Aloud." 
"  I  would  recommend  to  every  one  of  my  Readers  the  Keeping 
a  Journal  of  their  Lives  for  one  Week  and  Setting  down  Punctually 
their  whole  Series  of  Employments  during  that  Space  of  Time.  This 
Kind  of  Self-Examination  would  give  them  a  true  State  of  themselves 
and  incline  them  to  consider  seriously  what  they  are  about." 

"  He  is  not  sensible  of  his  own  want  of  Strength  when  he  knows 
that  his  Helper  is  Almighty.  In  short,  the.  Person  who  has  a  firm 
trust  on  the  Supreme  Being  is  Powerful  in  His  Power,  Wise  by  His 
Wisdom,  Happy  in  His  Happiness.  He  reaps  the  Benefit  of  every 
Divine  Attribute,  and  loses  his  own  Insufficiency  in  the  Fullness  of 
Infinite  Perfection." 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  245 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  was  meant  by  the  Grand  Tour?     What  great  predecessor  of 

Addison  took  a  journey  similar  to  his? 

2.  How  did  the  "  glorious  revolution  "  make  a  demand  for  skilful  political 

pamphleteers  ? 

3.  What  do  you  know  of  Richard  Steele? 

4.  What   were   the   characteristics    and   purposes    of    "  The   Tatler "   and 

"  The  Spectator  "  ? 

5.  What  were  the  characteristics  of  Cato? 

6.  Why  have  the  editorials  in  "  The  Spectator  "  remained  a  part  of  our 

literature,  while  the  editorial  you  read  in  this  morning's  paper  will  in 
all  prol)al)ility  be  forgotten  to-morrow? 

7.  WHiat  do  you  think  constitutes  a  good  style? 

8.  Translate  "  Oiiidquid  agunt  homines  nostri  est  farrago  lihelli." 

9.  Addison  watched  life  as   it  passed  by.     W^hat  do  we  learn   from  his 

observations  ? 
10.  Write  a  five-hundred-word  composition  upon  the  life  in  London  reflected 
in  the  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  papers. 

Suggested  Readings. — The  de  Coverley  Papers,  one  and  all,  will  repay 
reading  and  re-reading.  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Addison,"  Thackeray's 
"Lecture,"  and  Dr.  Johnson's  "Life"  are  all  worth  attention. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

ALEXANDER  POPE  (1688-1744) 

"The  most  faultless  of  poets." 

— Byron. 

"  Was  he  a  poet  ?     Yes,  if  that  be  what 
Byron  was  certainly  and  Bowles  was  not." 

— Austin  Dobson. 

The  most  conspicuous  eighteenth  century  poet  was  Alexander 
Pope.  His  influence  dominated  EngKsh  poetry,  roughly  speaking, 
from  the  death  of  Dryden  until  the  appearance  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Romantic  School.  The  classicists,  as  Pope  and  his  followers  are 
called,  believed  that  poetry  should  be  "  correct  ";  by  this  they  meant, 
first  that  it  should  be  clear,  and  second  that  it  should  conform  to 
certain  artificial  standards  which  they  had  derived  from  the  French. 
Of  these  the  easiest  to  understand  is  the  rule  that  the  end  of  a 
couplet  should  coincide  with  the  end  of  a  main  clause  or  the  end  of 
a  sentence.  Examine  the  following  lines  from  Pope's  "  Essay  on 
Criticism  ": 

"  Where'er  you  hear  '  the  cooling  western  breeze,' 
In  the  next  line  it  '  whispers  thro'  the  trees  ;  ' 
If  '  crystal  streams  with  pleasing  murmurs  creep,' 
The  reader's  threatened,  not  in  vain,  with  '  sleep.'  " 

Set  these  side  by  side  with  the  opening  lines  of  Keats's  "  Endymion  ": 

"A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever. 
Its  loveliness  increases ;  it  will  never 
Pass  into  nothingness,  but  still  will  keep 
A  bower  quiet  for  us  and  a  sleep 
Full  of  sweet  peace  and  health  and  quiet  breathing; 
Therefore,  on  every  morrow,  are  we  wreathing 
A  tlowcry  chain  to  bind  us  to  the  earth." 

In  the  lines  from  Pope  there  is  a  mark  of  punctuation  at  the  end  of 
each  couplet,  a  kind  of  dam,  so  to  speak.     In  the  lines  from  Keats, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  meaning  flows  from  one  couplet  into  the  next. 
246 


ALEXANDER  POPE  247 

To  vary  the  metaphor,  one  may  say  that  Pope's  couplets  are  like  square 
bricks,  while  Keats's  have  the  irregularity  of  unhewn  stone.  They 
remind  one  of  an  old-fashioned  New  England  stone  wall.  In  a  general 
way,  it  may  be  said  that  the  difference  between  Shakespeare  and  Pope 
is  that  Shakespeare  aims  to  hold  the  mirror  up  to  universal  nature, 
while  Pope,  to  quote  his  own  words,  beheves  that 

"  True  wit  is  nature  to  advantage  dressed, 
What  oft  was  thought  but  ne'er  so  well  expressed." 

Alexander  Pope  was  born  in  London  in  1688.  His  father  was  a 
Catholic  and  the  Catholic  king  of  England,  James  II,  within  a  few 
months  after  the  poet's  birth,  was  driven  across  the  sea  and  replaced 
by  the  Protestant,  William  III.  The  elder  Pope,  who  felt  that  he 
could  not  invest  with  a  clear  conscience  in  the  funds  of  a  Protestant 
government,  thereupon  withdrew  to  the  hamlet  of  Binfield  with  a 
fortune  of  twenty  thousand  pounds,  which  he  locked  in  a  chest,  taking 
from  it  what  he  needed  from  time  to  time.  He  had  amassed  this  for- 
tune as  a  wholesale  dealer  in  linen  and  was  not  credited,  by  those  who 
knew  him,  with  much  poetical  talent,  but  he  took  enough  interest  in 
the  genius  of  his  son  to  encourage  his  first  attempts  at  writing. 

His  mother  also  possessed  admirable  qualities  of  head  and  heart. 
There  is  no  nobler  expression  of  filial  love  than  in  these  lines,  which 
Pope  wrote  in  her  honor  after  the  death  of  his  father: 

"  Me  let  the  tender  office  long  engage 
To  rock  the  cradle  of  reposing  age, 
With  lenient  arts  extend  a  mother's  breath, 
Make  languor  smile  and  soothe  the  bed  of  death, 
Explore  the  thought,  explain  the  asking  eye, 
And  keep  awhile  one  parent  from  the  sky." 

Pope  may  be  called  a  self-educated  man,  the  religion  of  his  father 
making  a  career  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  out  of  the  question  for  him. 
He  began  to  read,  however,  at  a  very  tender  age  and  began  to  write 
almost  as  soon  as  he  began  to  read.  Though  sent  in  due  time  to 
several  schools,  he  quarreled,  as  other  men  of  genius  have  done,  with 
his  instructors.  As  a  child,  he  was  remarkable  for  the  mildness  of  his 
disposition  and  the  fragility  of  his  body.  The  weakness  of  his  body, 
as  Dr.  Johnson  puts  it,  "  continued  through  his  life,  but  the  mildness 
of  his  mind  perhaps  ended  with  his  childhood." 


248  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the  poet 
Walsh,  -vvho  read  his  verses,  gave  him  encouragement,  and  advised 
him  to  cultivate  "  correctness,"  on  the  ground  that,  whereas  more 
than  one  of  the  poets  of  England  had  been  great,  none  of  them  had 


ALEXANDER  POPE 

1688—1744 
From  the  portrait  by   William  Hoare 


been  "  correct."  The  seed  fell  on  fertile  soil.  Within  two  years  the 
young  poet  put  forth  some  "  Pastorals  "  which,  as  the  work  of  a 
boy  of  seventeen,  have  been  called  in  our  own  day  a  marvellous  feat 
of  melodious  versification. 

The  first  real  evidence  of  his  power,  however,  was  afforded  in 


ALEXANDER  POPE  249 

1711,  in  which  year  he  gave  to  the  world  his  "  Essay  on  Criticism." 
This  production  is  in  the  main  a  compilation  from  Horace's  "  Ars 
Poetica  "  and  Boileau's  "  L'Art  Poetique."  It  is  intended  as  a  guide 
for  those  who  wish  how  to  learn  to  judge  poetry.  Pope  argues  that 
it  is  as  great  a  fault  to  judge  ill  as  to  write  ill.  True  critical  genius 
is  as  rare  as  true  poetical  genius.  Nature  is  our  best  guide  in  all 
things.  Art  is  only  nature  methodized.  Issued  as  it  was  from  the 
press  of  an  obscure  bookseller,  the  Essay  failed  almost  wholly  to 
attract  attention.  But  Pope  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  At  his  sug- 
gestion, free  copies  were  sent  to  many  of  the  prominent  people  in 
London.  The  result  was  unexpectedly  gratifying.  The  author  him- 
self was  surprised  at  the  sudden  popularity  into  which  the  book  sprang. 
He  had  expected,  he  said,  that  the  "  town  "  (Addison  and  Pope  always 
speak  of  the  "  town  "  instead  of  the  "  nation  ")  would  be  unable  to 
appreciate  a  work  so  profound.  In  reality,  the  favor  with  which  it 
was  received  need  puzzle  no  one.  Its  thoughts  are  profound  precisely 
as  the  epigrams  in  the  last  successful  play  are  profound,  and  the  bril- 
liancy of  the  style  would  have  made  a  far  more  difficult  subject  attrac- 
tive. Though  it  delighted  Dr.  Johnson,  De  Quincey  denounced  it 
as  being  a  mere  versification  of  the  most  mouldy  critical  common- 
places, and  Taine  has  called  it  a  collection  of  very  wise  precepts 
whose  only  fault  is  that  they  are  too  true.  Among  these  precepts 
we  may  quote  the  following: 

" 'Tis  with  our  judgments  as  our  watches;  none 
Go  just  alike,  yet  each  believes  his  own." 

"  TTius  in  the  mind  where  memory  prevails, 
The  solid  power  of  understanding  fails; 
While  beams  of  warm  imagination  ^play, 
Tlie  memory's  soft'figures  meh  away; 
One  science  only  w^ill  one  genius  fit, 
So  vast  is  art,  so  narrow  human  wit." 

"  Each  might  his  several  province  well  command, 
Would  all  but  stoop  to  what  they  understand." 

"A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing." 
"  To  err  is  human,  to  forgive  divine."  / 

"  For  fools  rush  in  wheT€  angels  fear  to  tread." 
"  We  think  our  fathers  fools,  so  wise  we  grow ; 

Our  wiser  sons,  no  doubt,  will  think  us  so." 
"  Be  thou  the  first  true  merit  to  defend ; 

His  praise  is  lost  who  stays  till  all  commend." 


2a0  ENGLISH  LITERATUHE 

"  Fondly  we  tliink  we  honor  merit  then, 
When  we  but  praise  ourselves  in  other  men." 

"  Words  are  like  leaves,  and  where  they  most  abound 
Much  fruit  of  sense  beneath  is  seldom  found." 

"  In  words  as  fashions  the  same  rule  will  hold, 
Alike  fantastic  if  too  new  or  old; 
Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  is  tried, 
Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside." 

The  young  poet  was  now  fairly  introduced  into  the  frivolous  and 
brilliant  society  of  the  highest  London  circles.  The  "  Essay  on 
Criticism  "  had  been  the  result  of  his  researches  among  books;  his 
next  publication  grew  naturally  out  of  his  observation  of  this  shallow 
but  glittering  life.  Lord  Petre  had  stolen  a  lock  of  Miss  Arabella 
Termor's  hair.  The  lady  was  indignant  and  a  quarrel  ensued.  At 
the  suggestion  of  a  mutual  friend,  Pope  wrote  "  The  Rape  of  the 
Lock  "  in  an  endeavor  to  laugh  them  together  again.  Whether  he 
succeeded  or  not  in  this  laudable  design,  he  produced  a  readable  poem. 
Addison  called  it  a  delicious  Httle  thing.  Macaulay  pronounced  it 
Pope's  best  poem.  De  Quincey  declared  it  the  most  exquisite  monu- 
ment of  playful  fancy  that  universal  literature  affords,  and  Hazlitt 
the  most  exquisite  piece  of  filigree  work  ever  invented.  It  inspired 
one  of  Dr.  Johnson's  happiest  epigrams.  The  severest  critics  of  our 
own  day  have  joined  in  praising  it.  Conington,  Leslie  Stephen, 
Austin  Dobson,  and  Edmund  Gosse  are  loud  in  its  commendation. 
James  Russell  Lowell  wrote  of  it  as  follows: 

"  There  is  no  inspiration  in  it,  no  trumpet  call,  but  for  pure 
entertainment  it  is  unmatched.  There  are  two  kinds  of  genius.  The 
first  and  highest  may  be  said  to  speak  out  of  the  eternal  to  the  present, 
and  must  compel  its  age  to  understand  it;  the  second  understands 
its  age  and  tells  it  what  it  wishes  to  be  told.  Let  us  find  strength  and 
inspiration  in  the  one  and  instruction  in  the  other,  and  be  honestly 
thankful  for  both." 

Some  idea  of  the  quality  of  the  poem  may  be  derived  from  these 
citations: 

"  Here  thou.  Great  Anna  !    whom  three  realms  obey. 
Dost  sometimes  counsel  take,  and  sometimes  tea." 

"The  hungry  judges  soon  the  sentence  sign. 
And  wretches  hang,  that  jurymen  may  dine." 


ALEXANDER  POPE  251 

"Tlieii  flashed  the  living  lightning  from  her  eyes, 
And  screams  of  horror  rend  the  affrighted  skies. 
Not  loiuler  shrieks  to  pitying  heaven  are  cast, 
When  hnslninds,  or  when  lap-dogs,  breathe  their  last. 
Or  when  rich  china  vessels,  fallen  from  high, 
In  glittering  dust  and  painted  fragments  lie;  " 

"  But  now  secure  the  painted  vessel  glides, 
The  sunbeams  tremljling  on  the  floating  tides ; 
While  melting  music  steals  upon  the  sky, 
And  softened  sounds  along  the  waters  die. 
Smooth  flow  the  waves,  the  zephyrs  gently  play, 
Belinda  smiled,  and  all  the  world  was  gay." 

"  Beauties  in  vain  their  pretty  eyes  may  roll ; 
Charms  strike  the  sight,  but  merit  wins  the  soul." 

Elated  by  the  success  and  praise  which  he  had  won,  Pope  con- 
ceived the  design  of  rewriting  the  piece  and  introducing  a  supernatural 
machinery  of  sylphs  and  gnomes.  Before  entering  upon  the  work  of 
revision,  he  consulted  Addison,  who  admitted  that  the  plan  was 
ingenious,  but  advised  the  ambitious  youth  to  let  well  enough  alone. 
It  is  highly  probable  that  this  counsel  was  disinterested.  It  was 
certainly  judicious.  Pope,  however,  did  not  follow  it,  and  contrary  to 
all  the  teachings  of  experience  succeeded  in  improving  the  poem. 
The  episode  would  not  have  tended  to  cement  the  friendship  of  most 
men,  and  in  this  case  it  was  speedily  followed  by  another  episode 
which  brought  all  amicable  relations  between  the  two  to  an  end. 

Since  his  introduction  to  London  society,  Pope's  financial  means, 
owing  to  the  peculiar  scruples  of  his  father,  had  been  steadily  growing 
less.  Successful  from  a  literary  standpoint  as  the  "  Essay  on  Criti- 
cism "  and  the  "  Rape  of  the  Lock  "  had  been,  they  had  failed  to  add 
materially  to  the  author's  income.  He  therefore  determined  to  trans- 
late into  English  the  "  Iliad  "  and  "  Odyssey,"  embarking  upon  the 
enterprise  as  much,  probably,  for  business  as  for  artistic  reasons. 
It  happened  that  Tickell,  one  of  Addison's  closest  friends  and  most 
devoted  admirers,  was  at  the  same  time  entering  upon  a  similar  under- 
taking. The  rival  versions  of  the  first  book  of  the  "  Iliad  "  appeared 
almost  simultaneously.  The  public  verdict  was  pronounced  at  once 
in  favor  of  Pope.  Addison  and  Addison's  friends  expressed  the 
belief,  however,  that  Tickell  had  more  of  the  original.  Pope  accused 
them  of  a  conspiracy  to  ruin  the  profits  of  his  enterprise.     Addison 


.25^>  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

was  provoked  by  this  charge  to  such  an  extent  that  he  either  wrote 
or  caused  to  be  written  a  pamphlet  which  stung  Pope  to  the  quick. 
While  still  furious,  he  composed  and  sent  to  Addison  the  following 
verses,  which  have  been  called  the  most  brilliant  individual  passage 
in  all  his  writings  and  indeed  in  all  modern  satirical  literature: 

"  Peace  to  all  such  !  but  were  there  one  whose  fires 
True  genius  kindles,  and  fair  fame  inspires; 
Blest  with  each  talent  and  each  art  to  please, 
And  born  to  write,  converse,  and  live  with  ease ; 
Should  such  a  man,  too  fond  to  rule  alone. 
Bear,  like  the  Turk,  no  brother  near  the  throne, 
View  him  with  scornful,  yet  with  jealous  eyes, 
And  hate  for  arts  that  caused  himself  to  rise ; 
Damn  with  faint  praise,  assent  with  civil  leer, 
And  without  sneering  teach  the  rest  to  sneer; 
Willing  to  wound,  and  yet  afraid  to  strike. 
Just  hint  a  fault,  and  hesitate  dislike ; 
Alike  reserved  to  blame,  or  to  comrnend, 
A  timorous  foe,  and  a  suspicious  friend; 
Dreading  ev'n  fools,  by  flatterers  besieged. 
And  so  obliging  that  he  ne'er  obliged; 
Like  Cato,  give  his  little  senate  laws, 
And  sit  attentive  to  his  own  applause ; 
While  wits  and  templars  every  sentence  raise, 
And  wonder  with  a  foolish  face  of  praise : — 
Who  but  must  laugh,  if  such  a  man  there  be? 
Who  would  not  weep,  if  Atticus  were  he?" 

"  Addison,"  said  Pope,  "  used  me  very  civilly  ever  after."  "  No  won- 
der he  did,"  comments  Thackeray.  "  Such  a  weapon  as  Pope's  must 
have  pierced  any  scorn.  It  Hashes  forever  and  quivers  in  Addison's 
memory.  He  should  be  drawn,  like  Saint  Sebastian,  Vidth  that  arrow 
in  his  side." 

If,  in  connection  with  Homer,  Pope  lost  one  old  and  powerful 
friend,  he  also  allowed  an  opportunity  of  making  a  new  and  still 
more  powerful  one  to  escape  him.  The  Earl  of  Halifax,  having  gained 
for  himself  a  reputation  as  a  statesman  and  an  orator,  was  anxious 
also  to  pose  as  a  critic  and  patron  of  letters.  To  this  end  he  began 
to  make  overtures  to  Pope.  Hints  of  a  pension  were  not  lacking. 
The  poet  was  invited  to  read  to  the  statesman  the  opening  books  of 
the  translation  of  the  "  Iliad."  "  In  four  or  five  places,"  said  Pope, 
"  Lord  Halifax  stopped  me  very  civilly.  '  I  beg  your  pardon, 
Mr.  Pope,  but  there  is  something  in  that  passage  that  does  not  quite 


ALEX.VNDER  POPE  253 

please  me.  Be  so  good  as  to  mark  the  place.  I  am  sure  you  can  give 
it  a  little  turn.'  "  At  this  Pope  was  in  great  perplexity,  and  communi- 
cated his  embarrassment  to  Garth,  who  laughed  heartily  at  him, 
saying,  "  All  you  need  do  is  to  leave  them  just  as  they  are;  call  on 
Lord  Halifax  two  or  three  months  hence,  thank  him  for  his  kind 
observations  on  those  passages,  and  then  read  them  to  him  as  altered. 
I  will  be  answerable  for  the  event."  "  I  followed  his  advice,"  said 
Pope,  "  and  his  lordship  was  extremely  pleased  with  them,  and  cried 
out, '  Ay,  now  they  are  perfectly  right.'  "  Pope  was  little  in  the  habit 
of  concealing  contempt  when  he  felt  it.  Doubtless  on  this  occasion 
he  made  his  feelings  disagreeably  manifest.  At  any  rate,  the  talk 
of  a  pension  was  soon  dropped  and  never  revived. 

The  success  of  the  Homer  was  such,  indeed,  that  Pope  could  well 
afford  to  treat  with  scorn  the  flattery  of  the  great.  The  conspiracy 
of  Addison  and  his  friends,  if  such  there  was,  failed  completely.  The 
book  sprang  instantly  into  a  popularity  which  it  cannot  be  said  to  have 
lost  entirely  at  the  present  day.  The  best  of  the  critics  were  emphatic 
in  their  approval.  Swift  turned  himself  into  a  solicitor  of  subscrip- 
tions in  its  behalf.  Even  Addison  spoke  approvingly  of  it  in  "  The 
Spectator."  Dr.  Johnson  called  it  the  noblest  version  of  poetry  which 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Gray  declared  that  no  other  translation 
would  ever  equal  it.  Gibbon  admitted  that  it  had  every  merit 
except  that  of  fidelity  to  the  original.  In  the  present  century  Hugh 
Miller,  Byron,  and  Carlyle  have  re-echoed  the  approval  of  these  earlier 
critics.  Edm.und  Gosse  says  that,  all  in  all,  it  was  not  surpassed  by  any 
single  poem  between  "  Paradise  Lost  "  and  the  "  Excursion."  It  must 
be  admitted,  however,  that  if  it  has  excited  warm  approbation,  it  has 
also  excited  powerful  dissent.  The  lack  of  faithfulness  to  the  original, 
first  pointed  out  by  Addison,  was  censured  bitterly  by  Bentley,  and 
has  since  been  the  chief  weapon  in  the  armory  of  hostile  critics. 

The  financial  success  of  the  Homer  was  not  incommensurate  with 
its  literary  success.  Pope  made  a  fortune  out  of  the  venture,  his  share 
of  the  profits  on  the  "Iliad"  being  $25,000;  and  Pope's  profits  were  far 
exceeded  by  those  of  his  publishers.  The  "  Odyssey,"  as  it  now 
stands,  is  only  partially  his  work.  In  translating  it  he  had  the  aid  of 
Elijah  Fenton  (1683-1730)  and  William  Broome  (1689-1745).     To 


2o4  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

the  former  we  are  indebted  for  Books  1,  4,  19,  and  20;  to  the  latter 
for  Books  2,  6,  8,  11,  12,  16,  18,  23,  and  the  notes.  For  his  labors 
Fenton  received  about  $1000,  and  Broome  about  $2800.  Pope's 
own  profit  on  the  "  Odyssey  "  was  nearly  $18,000.  With  the  $43,000 
thus  acquired,  which  was  probably  equal  in  purchasing  power  to 
$120,000  to-day,  he  bought  annuities  amounting  to  what  would  now 
be  $12,000  a  year  and  a  villa  at  Twickenham,  a  charming  village 
situated  on  the  Thames  a  few  miles  west  of  London.  In  the  retreat 
which  he  found  there,  he  had  opportunity  to  cultivate  his  taste  for 
the  art  of  landscape  gardening,  which  was  just  then  coming  into 
popular  notice.  There  he  adorned  the  banks  of  the  Thames  with  a 
noble  lawn,  exercised  his  ingenuity  in  laying  out  quincunxes,  and 
spent  his  leisure  hours  in  pruning  vines.  There,  to  this  day,  may 
still  be  seen  the  most  famous  of  his  architectural  achievements — a 
short  tunnel  under  the  highway  to  connect  his  lawn  and  his  house, 
which  lay  between  the  river  and  the  highway,  with  his  grounds.  This 
passage,  dignified  by  Pope's  vanity  into  a  grotto,  doubtless  witnessed 
some  remarkable  gatherings  of  distinguished  men,  though,  as  Leslie 
Stephen  says,  one  would  fear  that  it  was  better  fitted  for  frogs  than 
for  philosophers  with  rheumatic  pains.  Thither  were  wont  to  flock 
the  brightest  men.  Here  the  courtly,  skeptical,  and  brilliant  Boling- 
broke,  the  jocose  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  the  amiable  and  ingenious 
Gay,  the  witty  Arbuthnot,  Garth,  and  Peterborough,  with  all  the 
prestige  of  a  successful  general  fresh  upon  him,  met,  to  mingle 

"  with  the  generous  bowl 
The  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow  of  soul." 

Here  humble  Joseph  Spence  eagerly  listened  to  the  words  of  the  great 

men  present,  and  then  hastened  away  to  write  them  down  for  the 

delight  of  future  generations.     Here  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  who  bragged 

more,  spelled  worse,  and  painted  better  than  any  other  Englishman 

of  his  day,  talked  on  terms  of  easy  familiarity  with  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

Here  Voltaire  delighted  his  host  by  his  condescension  and  enraged 

him  by  his  frankness.     Here,  too,  on  state  occasions  might  be  seen 

courtly  and  witty  ladies— Martha  and  Teresa  Blount,  Lady  Boling- 

broke,  Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marlborough,  and  the  fair  and  intellectual 

Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,    who  had  charmed  the  wits  with  her 


ALEXANDER  POPE  255 

classification  of  the  human  race  into  "  men,  women,  and  Herveys," 
and  had  won  the  admiration  and  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  doctors 
by  her  introduction  into  England  of  the  practice  of  inoculation  for 
smallpox.  Nor,  at  times,  was  the  poet's  retirement  undisturbed  by 
less  welcome  visitors.  He  complains  bitterly  in  verses  that  the  whole 
tribe  of  bad  poets  would  persist  in  tlocking  thither  to  waste  his  time 
and  spoil  his  temper.  One  came  to  read  an  execrable  tragedy,  another 
to  beg,  a  third  to  solicit  influence  with  a  publisher  or  a  friend.  Some 
even  had  the  impudence  to  try  the  effect  of  flattery: 

"  There  are,  who  to  my  person  pay  their  court. 
I  cough  like  Horace,  and,  though  lean,  am  short. 
Great  Amnion's  son  one  shoulder  had  too  high, 
Such  Ovid's  nose,  and,  "  Sir,  you  have  an  eye  " — 
Go  on,  obliging  creatures,  make  me  see 
All  that  disgraced  my  betters  met  in  me. 
Say  for  my  comfort,  languishing  in  bed, 
Just  so  immortal  Maro  held  his  head. 
And  when  I  die,  be  sure  you  let  me  know, 
Great  Homer  died  three  thousand  years  ago." 

As  these  lines  hint.  Pope's  health  had  become  a  source  of  keen 
solicitude.  Never  strong,  as  he  advanced  in  years  he  grew  to  be  a 
chronic  invalid.  He  could  not  get  up  himself;  he  had  a  servant  to 
dress  him;  his  legs  were  so  slender  that  he  wore  three  pairs  of  stock- 
ings to  conceal  their  deformity ;  his  body  was  so  weak  he  could  scarcely 
hold  himself  erect  until  he  had  been  laced  into  a  thick  canvas  bodice. 
Over  this  he  wore  a  flannel  waistcoat;  next  a  fur  doublet,  for  he  was 
very  susceptible  to  cold;  and  lastly  a  thick  linen  shirt.  He  was  so 
small  that  he  had  to  sit  in  a  high  chair  at  table. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  man  afflicted  in  this  fashion  was  selfish 
and  irritable,  at  one  moment  disgustingly  tricky,  and  at  another 
brutally  frank.  At  dinner  he  ate  too  much.  When  cordials  were 
offered  him,  he  got  angry,  but  did  not  refuse  them.  Lady  Bolingbroke 
says  that  he  played  the  politician  about  cabbages  and  turnips  and 
hardly  drank  tea  without  a  strategem.  He  was  niggardly  in  his 
expenses.  He  allowed  his  guests  only  one  bottle  of  bad  wine  at 
dinner.  Svnft  called  him  paper-sparing  Pope.  The  entire  "  Iliad  "  is 
said  to  have  been  written  on  the  backs  of  old  envelopes.     Once  his 


256  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

publishers  sent  him  good  paper.  Even  then  he  did  not  give  up  his 
envelopes,  but  saved  the  paper,  regardless  alike  of  the  eyes  and 
oaths  of  the  type-setters.  He  went  to  sleep  at  his  own  table  when  the 
Prince  of  Wales  was  reading  poetry,  certainly  a  severe  infliction,  says 
Leslie  Stephen.  When  it  suited  him,  he  never  hesitated  to  lie.  In 
spite  of  all  this  he  possessed  admirable  qualities.  He  loved  his  dog, 
and  said  he  would  have  inscribed  over  his  grave  "  O  rare  Bounce  " 
but  for  the  appearance  of  ridiculing  "O  rare  Ben  Jonson."  Like  all 
strong  characters  he  was  a  good  lover  and  a  good  hater.  With  the 
best  men  of  his  time  he  lived  on  terms  of  the  closest  intimacy. 

"True  friendship,  warm  as  Phoebus, 
Kind  as  love,  and  strong  as  Hercules," 

he  was  undoubtedly  capable  of  appreciating  and  returning.  Boling- 
broke  and  Swift  pay  the  highest  tribute  to  the  kindness  of  his  heart. 
Nor  was  his  consideration  bestowed  solely  on  the  great.  So  well 
did  he  reward  the  servant  who  had  the  care  of  his  personal  comfort 
that  she  said  she  would  want  no  wages  in  a  family  where  she  might 
wait  on  Mr.  Pope. 

His  capacity  for  making  foes,  as  has  been  hinted,  was  equally 
great ;  and  his  enemies  were  of  a  kind  who  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
their  disapproval  in  language  calculated  to  arouse  all  the  malignity 
of  a  far  less  irritable  spirit.  One  ambitious  pedant  declared  that  his 
wit  was  as  thick  as  Tewksbury  mustard.  Another  called  him  a  porten- 
tous cub.  A  third,  referring  with  peculiar  spite  and  peculiar  clumsi- 
ness to  the  deformity  of  his  person,  wrote:  "  He  may  extol  the 
ancients,  but  he  has  reason  to  thank  the  gods  he  was  born  a  modern, 
for  had  he  been  born  of  Grecian  parents  his  life  had  been  no  longer 
than  that  of  one  of  his  poems,  the  life  of  half  a  day";  and  not 
content  with  this  added  the  following  cruel  touch:  "  If  you  take  the 
first  letter  of  Mr.  Alexander  Pope's  Christian  name,  and  the  first  and 
last  letters  of  his  surname,  you  will  have  A.  P.  E."  A  fourth,  in  an 
exceptionally  atrocious  couplet,  hinted  that  he  had  required  help  in 
construing  his  Homer.  His  peace  of  mind  was  disturbed  by  libellous 
pamphlets.  Wycherley  made  sport  of  his  "  little,  crazy,  and  crooked 
carcass."  Orrery  described  him  as  "  mens  curva  in  corpore  curvo." 
Chesterfield  called  him  the  most  irritable  of  all  the  "  genus  irritabile." 


ALEXANDER  POPE  257 

Addison  whispered  aspersions  about  his  character  into  the  fair  ear 
of  Lady  Montagu  until  she  was  induced  to  refer  to  him  as  the  wicked 
asp  of  Twickenham. 

The  revenge  which  Pope  took  was  ample,  but  it  can  scarcely  be 
called  dignified.  His  method  of  silencing  Addison  we  have  already 
seen.  Even  Lady  Montagu  did  not  escape  that  dreadful  pen.  But 
it  was  Theobald  and  Gibber,  Dennis  and  Henley,  who  fared  worst. 
It  was  their  fate  to  be  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the  world  in  "  The 
Dunciad,"  or  the  Iliad  of  the  Dunces,  Pope's  first  serious  attempt 
to  write  satire.  As  originally  published  in  1728  it  contained  three 
books  and  had  for  its  hero  Theobald,  a  pedantic  but  scholarly  editor 
of  Shakespeare,  whose  chief  crime  seems  to  have  been  that  his  edition 
of  the  great  poet  was  better  than  Pope's  own.  In  the  edition  of 
1742  a  fourth  book  was  added;  in  that  of  1743  Theobald  was 
dethroned  and  Colley  Gibber  made  King  of  the  Dunces.  The  change 
was  not  a  happy  one,  as  Gibber,  though  shallow,  flippant,  and  disrepu- 
table, was  by  no  means  dull.  In  wit  "  The  Dunciad  "  yields  to  none 
of  Pope's  poems.  The  pensive  poets  who  ''  painful  vigils  keep,  sleep- 
less themselves  to  give  their  readers  sleep  ";  the  king  of  the  dunces, 
sinking  from  thought  to  thought,  a  vast  profound ;  yet  unintelligently 
happy  "  in  pleasing  memory  of  all  he  stole  ";  the  poetess, 

"  With  tresses  starting  from  poetic  dreams, 
And  never  washed  but  in  Castalia's  streams ;  " 

and  the  amateur  poet,  "  A  wit  with  dunces  and  a  dunce  with  wits," 
are  not  unworthy  of  Juvenal.  Pope's  power  of  condensation  is  here 
seen  at  its  best.     One  line, 

"  The  right  divine  of  kings  to  govern  wrong," 
gives  us  the  essence  of  a  dozen  political  pamphlets;  another, 

"  Swift  as  a  bard  the  bailifif  leaves  behind," 

a  sad  and  yet  ludicrous  picture  of  the  life  of  a  struggling  author  in 
those  days;  and  a  third, 

"  Earless  on  high  stood  unabashed  Defoe," 
an  eloquent  description  of  an  unsavory  episode  in  the  life  of  the  author 
of  "  Robinson  Grusoe."    Here  and  there,  also,  a  ray  of  more  natural 
17 


.^)8  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

light  breaks  in  upon  the  electric  glare  of  the  poet's  wit.  Wordsworth 
himself  could  have  read  this  couplet  with  an  approving  nod: 

"  To  happy  convents,  liosomed  deep  in  vines. 
Where  slumber  abbots  purple  as  their  wines." 

But  the  climax  of  all  is  reached,  as  the  climax  should  be,  at  the  very 
end.  "  No  poet's  verse,"  says  Thackeray,  "  ever  mounted  higher  than 
the  wonderful  flight  with  which  '  The  Dunciad  '  closes." 

The  announcement  of  the  poem  had  spread  consternation  among 
Pope's  enemies.  On  the  day  of  its  publication  a  crowd  of  authors 
besieged  the  shop,  endeavoring  by  threats  and  entreaties  to  prevent 
its  sale.  Its  circulation  was  naturally  increased  by  this  circumstance; 
in  fact,  it  succeeded  so  well  in  making  his  foes  uncomfortable,  that 
Pope  owned  afterward  in  a  couplet  of  exceptional  asperity  and  excep- 
tional wit  to  a  feeling  of  exultation: 

"  Yes,  I  am  proud ;  I  must  be  proud,  to  see 
Men  not  afraid  of  God  afraid  of  me." 

Pope's  methods  of  composition  deserve  the  attention  of  those  who 
aspire  to  learn  the  art.  Writing  was  with  him  at  once  a  passion  and  a 
business,  a  labor  of  love  and  a  matter  of  the  most  painstaking  care. 
"  If  conversation,"  says  Johnson,  "  offered  anything  that  could  be 
improved,  he  committed  it  to  paper;  if  a  thought  or  perhaps  an 
expression  more  happy  than  was  common  rose  to  his  mind,  he  was 
careful  to  write  it;  an  independent  distich  was  preserved  for  an  oppor- 
tunity of  insertion;  and  some  little  fragments  have  been  found  con- 
taining lines  or  parts  of  lines  to  be  wrought  upon  at  some  other  time. 
Lord  Oxford's  domestic  related  that,  in  the  dreadful  winter  of  1740, 
she  was  called  from  her  bed  by  him  four  times  in  one  night  to  supply 
him  with  paper,  lest  he  should  lose  a  thought."  According  to  Swift, 
he  always  had  some  poetical  scheme  in  his  head.  When  he  had  writ- 
ten a  work,  he  kept  it  at  least  two  years  in  his  desk.  During  this 
period  he  read  and  re-read  it  many  times,  and  subjected  it  to  the 
criticism  of  his  friends.  Each  perusal  by  himself  or  others  resulted 
in  beneficial  changes;  and,  when  the  poem  had  been  published  and 
attacked  by  his  enemies,  he  amended  it  in  accordance  with  their 
criticisms. 


ALEXANDER  POPE  250 

The  elegant  versification,  the  polished  urbanity,  and  the  serene 
Epicureanism  of  the  satires  and  epistles  of  Horace  were  calculated 
in  no  ordinary  degree  to  appeal  to  a  man  of  Pope's  tastes  and  habits. 
The  form  in  which  they  were  cast  was  peculiarly  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  a  poet  who  desired  to  string  together  many  brilliant 
but  disjointed  thoughts.  In  a  happy  hour,  therefore,  Pope  determined 
to  give  to  England  what  he  himself  modestly  termed  imitations  but 
what  in  reality  are  translations  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word  of 
some  of  Horace's  Satires  and  Epistles.  De  Quincey  did  not  admire 
these  productions,  but  few  will  now  re-echo  his  condemnation.  They 
probably  constitute  Pope's  surest  guarantee  of  immortality.  Leslie 
Stephen  says  that  the  best  way  to  learn  to  enjoy  Pope  is  to  get  by 
heart  the  entire  Epistle  to  Arbuthnot.  Although  we  are  occasionally 
gladdened  by  lines  and  couplets  which  everybody  learns  in  the  cradle, 
such  as: 

"  'Tis  education  forms  the  common  mind ; 
Just  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's  inclined ;  " 
or 

"  Who  shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree ;  " 

they  are  kept  from  growing  wearisome  by  other  lines  and  couplets 
equally  good  in  themselves  and  far  less  hackneyed.  The  poet's  knowl- 
edge of  the  human  heart  manifests  itself  in  more  than  one  noble 
epigram: 

"  Who  combats  bravely  is  not  therefore  brave ;  " 

"  Who  builds  a  church  to  God  and  not  to  fame 
Will  never  mark  the  marble  with  his  name ;  " 

"  Proud  to  catch  cold  at  a  Venetian  door ;  " 

"  Some   odd  old  Whig, 
Who  never  changed  his  politics  or  wig." 

"Authors,  like  coins,  grow  dear  as  they  grow  old; 
It  is  the  rust  we  value,  not  the  gold." 

Throughout  all  these  years,  Pope,  though  most  of  his  attention 
had  been  given  to  poetry,  had  by  no  means  neglected  prose.  WTiile 
still  busy  with  the  "  Odyssey,"  he  had  published  an  edition  of  Shake- 
speare which  was  wretchedly  inaccurate,  but  which  paved  the  way 
for  later  and  better  work  by  showing  how  the  text  might  be  amended; 


ALEXANDER  POPE  261 

hardly  deserve.  Many  of  them  are  amazingly  clever  and  some  con- 
tain real  poetry.  Among  the  earlier  and  more  pretentious  of  these 
are  "  The  Messiah,"  a  well-versified  imitation  of  Virgil's  "  PoUio," 
with  added  inspiration  from  Isaiah;  "  Windsor  Forest,"  the  only  pro- 
duction of  Pope  which  Wordsworth  condescended  to  praise  and  which 
is  in  reality  the  dreariest  and  most  commonplace  of  all  his  poems; 
"  Eloisa  to  Abelard,"  a  melodious  but  highly  artificial  love-letter; 
several  cleverly  written  and  eloquent  but  rather  frigid  imitations  of 
Chaucer;  and  an  "  Elegy  on  the  Death  of  an  Unfortunate  Lady," 
which,  while  immensely  inferior  to  Gray's  Elegy,  is  still  powerful  and 
pathetic.  Sir  James  Mackintosh  is  said  to  have  quoted  the  following 
passage  from  it  to  repel  a  charge  of  coldness  brought  against  Pope: 

"  By  foreign  hands  thy  dying  eyes  were  closed. 
By  foreign  hands  thy  decent  limbs  composed, 
By  foreign  hands  thy  humble  grave  adorned, 
By  strangers  honored  and  by  strangers  mourned. 
Yet  shall  thy  grave  with  rising  flowers  be  drest, 
And  the  green  turf  lie  lightly  on  thy  breast ; 
There  shall  the  morn  her  earliest  tears  bestow, 
There  the  first  roses  of  the  year  shall  blow. 
A  heap  of  dust  alone  remains  of  thee, 
'Tis  all  thou  art  and  all  the  proud  shall  be  !  " 

Occasionally  Pope  wrote  a  clever  epigram ;  this,  for  instance,  is  equal 
to  the  best  of  Prior's: 

"  Friend,  for  your  epitaphs  I'm  grieved, 
Where  still  so  much  is  said, 
One-half  will  never  be  believed. 
The  other  never  read  ;  " 

this  not  unworthy  of  Martial : 

"  You  beat  your  pate  and  fancy  wit  will  come ; 
Knock  as  you  please,  there's  nobody  at  home." 

His  epitaph  on  Newton  is  a  model  of  all  that  an  epitaph  should  be: 

"  Nature  and  Nature's  works  lay  hid  in  night ; 
God  said,  '  Let  Newton  be,'  and  all  was  light ;  " 

and  his  epitaph  on  Gay  has  won  the  warmest  encomiums  of  the  best 
judges. 

The  student  of  Pope  is  forced  indeed  to  return  again  and  again 
to  his  friendships.     So  thoroughly  are  they  woven  into  the  fibre  of  his 


2&2 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


life  that  they  can  be  disposed  of  in  no  isolated  paragraph.  They 
inlluenced  not  only  his  hours  of  social  ease,  but  they  determined  also 
to  a  great  extent  the  direction  of  his  poetical  activity.  This  had  been 
true  of  the  "Pastorals,"  which  were  inspired  in  part  at  least  by  Walsh; 
of  ••  The  Rape  of  the  Lock,"  which  was  the  logical  outcome  of  Pope's 
relations  with  what  is  called  "society";  and  of  "The  Dunciad," 
which  may  be  traced  to  the  brain  of  Swift.  It  was  true  to  a  still 
greater  extent  of  a  still  loftier  work,  with  the  composition  of  which 
Pope  had  occupied  the  best  efforts  of  more  than  ten  of  the  most 
active  years  of  his  life. 

Henry  St.  John,  Lord  Bolingbroke,  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
figures  in  English  history.  In  Lis  early  days  his  debaucheries  had 
been  the  scandal  and  his  intellectual  powers  the  wonder  of  Oxford. 
With  Dryden  he  had  lived  on  terms  of  intimacy.  He  had  risen  at  an 
age  when  most  young  men  are  still  at  the  university  to  be  regarded 
as  the  most  brilliant  orator  and  the  foremost  statesman  of  his  time. 
Under  Anne  he  had  been  Secretary  of  State.  He  had  been  prevented 
from  attaining  the  highest  political  honors  to  which  a  British  subject 
may  aspire  only  by  the  suspicion,  which  his  political  enemies  were  not 
slow  to  take  advantage  of,  that  he  was  plotting  to  restore  the  House  of 
Stuart.  Upon  the  accession  of  George,  fearing  impeachment,  he  had 
fled  to  France.  There  he  remained  until  pardoned,  when  he  returned 
to  England,  purchased  a  magnificent  estate,  and  devoted  his  enforced 
leisure  to  political  and  philosophical  studies.  While  thus  engaged, 
he  was  introduced  to  Pope;  their  acquaintance  soon  ripened  into 
friendship;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  poet,  inspired  by  the  fas- 
cinating metaphysics  of  the  peer,  was  hard  at  work  upon  a  grand 
philosophical  poem,  which,  he  fondly  hoped,  would  prove  to  be  the 
most  enduring  monument  of  his  fame.  There  is  a  pretty  picture, 
from  the  pen  of  Bolingbroke  himself,  of  the  happy  hours  in  which  he 
communicated  to  Pope  his  philosophical  system,  when  they  sauntered 
alone,  or,  as  he  says,  "  with  good  Arbuthnot  and  the  jocose  Dean  of 
St.  Patrick's,"  among  the  multiplied  scenes  of  the  little  garden  at 
Twickenham.  The  design  was  never  finished,  but  several  fragments 
of  it  were  given  to  the  public,  chief  among  them  the  "  Moral  Essays  " 
and  the  "  Essay  on  Man." 


^\^ 

teally  not  '■-'■  ■ ' 
ooe  loii-  &-^ 

His  last  wort '^■^ 
early  in  4^} 
iurch. 

Preuo'Ji 
tame  10  an  f 
(juatrain  hac 
rivaliinziii;" 


adirkar/."-- 
naluraily :'>  ■• 
has  he  sue;  loi  B I 
TheaLwersarfwffl 
Poetn-.  'ir*  -«. 
arenotrea'' 
tbenattf 

crest  of  a  1 


ALEXANDER  POPE  263 

Subsequent  to  the  publication  of  his  letters,  Pope's  literary  activ- 
ity sensibly  declined.  In  spite  of  all  his  care  his  rickety  constitution 
was  beginning  to  break.  That  he  had  been  able  for  so  many 
years  as  he  did  to  hold  together  a  soul  and  body  so  ill  cemented  was 
really  not  the  least  of  his  achievements.  He  himself  called  his  life 
one  long  disease.  He  was,  however,  cheerful  to  the  last.  Almost 
upon  his  death-bed  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  in  words  that  recall  the  dying 
words  of  Charles  II,  "  Here  I  am  dying  of  a  hundred  good  symptoms." 
His  last  work  was  a  revision  of  "  The  Dunciad."  He  passed  away 
early  in  the  year  1 744,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  Twickenham 
church. 

Previous  to  his  death  he  had  opportunity  to  taste  the  sweets  of 
fame  to  an  extent  that  has  been  enjoyed  by  few  poets.  Swift  in  one 
quatrain  had  owned  his  admiration,  his  envy,  and  his  despair  of 
rivalling  his  friend's  verse: 

"  In  Pope  I  cannot  read  a  line 
But  with  a  sigh  I  wish  it  mine, 
For  he  can  in  one  couplet  tix 
More  sense  than  I  can  put  in  six." 

Hardly  had  he  passed  away,  however,  when  the  warmth  of  his 
eulogists  began  to  decrease.  Cowper  charged  Pope  with  having 
debased  his  art.  Jeffrey  thought  him  unnatural.  Wordsworth  de- 
clared that  he  had  misused  his  talents.  Lessing  called  him  a  literary 
mechanic.  In  our  own  time  it  has  become  quite  the  fashion  among 
a  certain  class  of  brilliant  but  uncritical  lecturers  to  refer  with  patron- 
izing disapproval  to  "  dear  old  Alexander,  whom  all  of  us  quote  and 
admire,  and  none  of  us  read."  In  view  of  these  facts,  two  questions 
naturally  arise.  Why  was  Pope  so  popular  in  his  own  day?  Why 
has  he  since  lost  so  much  of  the  favor  that  he  formerly  enjoyed? 
The  answers  are  not  difficult  ones. 

Poetry,  like  dress,  is  subject  to  the  changes  of  fashion.  These 
are  not  really  dictated  by  caprice  but  by  a  law  which  is  inherent  in 
the  nature  of  the  human  mind.  That  law  leads  us  instinctively  to 
shun  sameness  and  to  seek  for  variety.  Just  as  inevitably  as  the 
crest  of  a  wave  is  followed  by  a  hollow,  just  so  surely  is  one  fashion 
followed  by  another.     If  the  gentlemen  of  one  decade  wear  narrow 


21^  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

shoes,  those  of  the  next  are  pretty  sure  to  affect  wide  ones;  if  the 
poetic  taste  of  one  generation  demands  that  th«  emphasis  be  laid  on 
Nature,  that  of  the  next  is  certain  to  find  its  chief  satisfaction  in 
what  we  must,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  call  Art. 

Of  course  these  changes  come  about  gradually.  In  all  human 
institutions,  as  in  all  natural  organisms,  the  form  remains  long  after 
the  soul  has  fled,  long  after  life  is  extinct.  After  the  juice  of  an  orange 
has  been  dried  up  for  years,  there  is  still  left  a  dwarfed  and  shrivelled 
rind.  It  is  so  with  a  literary  fashion.  After  Shakespeare's  death  men 
still  kept  on  writing  plays  in  Shakespeare's  manner.  All  of  the  dis- 
agreeable peculiarities  of  the  master— the  bad  puns,  the  anachronisms, 
the  swelling  blank  verse — continued  to  be  reproduced  with  mathe- 
matical precision.  But  the  juice  was  gone  from  the  fruit.  The  prod- 
uct was  as  flat  and  tasteless  as  a  withered  gourd. 

The  results  that  followed  were  perfectly  logical.  People  will  not 
eat  withered  gourds;  neither  will  they  go  to  see  soulless  plays.  The 
great  object  of  the  Shakespearean  drama,  "  to  hold  the  mirror  up  to 
nature,"  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  the  cardinal  principle  of  literary 
production.     A  new  principle, 

"  TVue  wit  is  nature  to  advantage  dressed, 
What  oft  was  thought,  but  ne'er  so  well  expressed." 

took  its  place.  The  nation  which  had  been  so  amply  nourished  by 
a  literature  of  which  the  fundamental  characteristic  is  freedom  began 
to  crave  for  a  literature  subject  to  rigid  laws. 

WTien  Pope  came  into  the  world  this  craving  was  just  beginning 
to  take  definite  form.  He  understood  it  and  satisfied  it.  His  reward 
was  an  immense  contemporary  fame. 

After  his  death,  the  same  laws  which  had  made  the  world  tire  for 
a  time  of  the  Elizabethan  drama  kept  on  operating.  People  had  been 
surfeited  with  poetic  freedom  before;  now  they  began  to  be  surfeited 
with  poetic  rules.  Pope's  imitators  preserved  the  form  of  his  verses, 
indeed,  but  only  the  form.  The  result  was  a  fresh  literary  revo- 
lution. King  Alexander  was  dethroned.  Wordsworth  succeeded 
to  the  diadem. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  operation  of  the  same  laws  which 


ALEX.VNDER  POPE  265 

caused  his  downfall  will  in  time  restore  Pope  to  partial  favor,  just 
as  it  did  in  the  last  century  rescue  Shakespeare  from  oblivion.  In 
fact,  he  has  never  lacked  able  apologists.  Campbell  boldly  defended 
his  appreciation  of  nature.  Byron  called  him  the  most  perfect  of  poets. 
De  Quincey  ridiculed  the  crusade  against  his  title  of  bard.  Thackeray 
called  him  the  greatest  literary  artist  England  has  ever  seen.  Lowell 
admitted  that  he  was  unrivalled  as  a  wit.  Taine  called  his  "  versified 
prose  "  the  finest  in  the  world.  William  INIinto  says  that  the  polemic 
against  his  title  to  the  name  of  poet  would  be  contemptible  were  it 
not  that  beneath  the  dispute  about  the  name  there  is  a  desire  to  im- 
press on  the  public  a  respect  for  the  highest  kinds  of  poetry.  Austin 
Dobson  asks  the  question,  "'  Was  he  a  poet?  "  and  answers  it: 

"  Yes,  if  that  be  what 
Byron  was  certainly  and  Bowlej  was  not." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  were  Pope's  principles  of  versification? 

2.  Study  these  principles  in  a  page  of  Pope;  then  write  twenty  lines  in 

the  same  form  upon  some  matter  of  common  interest  to  the  class. 

3.  What  do  you  know  of  Pope's  parents? 

4.  With  what  did  Pope  first  win  his  reputation  ? 

5.  Tell  of  the  relations  between  Pope  and  Addison. 

6.  What  do  you  know  of  Pope's  life  at  Twickenham? 

7.  Write  as  vivid  a  description  as  possible  of  Pope's  character. 

8.  What   were   the   cause,   the    content,    and   the    consequences   of    "  The 

Dunciad  "? 

9.  What  do  you  know  of  Pope's  method  of  composition  ? 

10.  Why  was  Pope's  poetry  so  popular  in  his  own  day  and  why  has  it  since 
lost  so  much  of  that  popularity? 

Suggested  Readings. — Tlie  "  Rape  of  the  Lock,"  the  "  Essay  on  Man." 
and  "  The  Universal  Prayer "  should  certainly  be  read.  De  Quincey's 
"  Essay  on  Pope  "  and  "  On  the  Poetry  of  Pope "  are  revealing  essays. 
Johnson's  "  Life  of  Pope  "  is  admirable. 


1 


oti^t  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

shoes,  those  of  the  next  are  pretty  sure  to  affect  wide  ones;  if  the 
poetic  taste  of  one  generation  demands  that  th«  emphasis  be  laid  on 
Nature,  that  of  the  next  is  certain  to  find  its  chief  satisfaction  in 
what  we  must,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  call  Art. 

Of  course  these  changes  come  about  gradually.  In  all  human 
institutions,  as  in  all  natural  organisms,  the  form  remains  long  after 
the  soul  has  fled,  long  after  life  is  extinct.  After  the  juice  of  an  orange 
has  been  dried  up  for  years,  there  is  still  left  a  dwarfed  and  shrivelled 
rind.  It  is  so  with  a  literary  fashion.  After  Shakespeare's  death  men 
still  kept  on  writing  plays  in  Shakespeare's  manner.  All  of  the  dis- 
agreeable peculiarities  of  the  master — the  bad  puns,  the  anachronisms, 
the  swelling  blank  verse — contint'ed  to  be  reproduced  with  mathe- 
matical precision.  But  the  juice  was  gone  from  the  fruit.  The  prod- 
uct was  as  flat  and  tasteless  as  a  withered  gourd. 

The  results  that  followed  were  perfectly  logical.  People  will  not 
eat  withered  gourds;  neither  will  they  go  to  see  soulless  plays.  The 
great  object  of  the  Shakespearean  drama,  "  to  hold  the  mirror  up  to 
nature,"  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  the  cardinal  principle  of  literary 
production.     A  new  principle, 

"  TVue  wit  is  nature  to  advantage  dressed, 
What  oft  was  thought,  but  ne'er  so  well  expressed." 

took  its  place.  The  nation  which  had  been  so  amply  nourished  by 
a  literature  of  which  the  fundamental  characteristic  is  freedom  began 
to  crave  for  a  literature  subject  to  rigid  laws. 

When  Pope  came  into  the  world  this  craving  was  just  beginning 
to  take  definite  form.  He  understood  it  and  satisfied  it.  His  reward 
was  an  immense  contemporary'  fame. 

After  his  death,  the  same  laws  which  had  made  the  world  tire  for 
a  time  of  the  Elizabethan  drama  kept  on  operating.  People  had  been 
surfeited  with  poetic  freedom  before;  now  they  began  to  be  surfeited 
with  poetic  rules.  Pope's  imitators  preserved  the  form  of  his  verses, 
indeed,  but  only  the  form.  The  result  was  a  fresh  literary  revo- 
lution. King  Alexander  was  dethroned.  Wordsworth  succeeded 
to  the  diadem. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  operation  of  the  same  laws  which 


ireciatioDoia^'^ 


peQuincey: 


ib«: 


Dtessont 


I  Studv  b. 


].  Write  a;  ■ 


P  5.tofe 


''Esiav 


"Th.t  '■- 


ReadDB 


iOn  i "  ult  I,.  .- ,; 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  £07 

next  two  years  he  sold  and  read  books  at  Lichfield.  His  memory  was 
already  remarkable.  He  had  the  faculty,  as  somebody  later  has 
said,  "  of  tearing  the  heart  out  of  a  book,"  and  he  thus  absorbed  a 
mass  of  learning  remarkable  in  a  youth  of  his  years. 

In  1728,  he  was  entered  at  Pembroke  College,  Oxford,  where  he 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON 
1709 — 1784 
From  a  mezzotint  after  the  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 

remained  until  1731.  Owing  to  his  poverty,  his  college  course  seems 
to  have  been  throughout  a  kind  of  battle,  in  which  his  melancholy  and 
his  pride  strove  for  mastery.  Like  Swift,  he  tried  to  fortify  himself 
against  the  pity  of  his  companions  by  affecting  a  kind  of  insolence  and 
wildness  of  demeanor.  On  one  occasion,  a  charitable  fellow  student 
who  had  observed  his  lack  of  shoes  left  a  pair  at  his  door;  but  Johnson 


i({8  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

threw  them  away  in  a  rage.  Finally,  in  1731,  he  gave  up  the  fight, 
left  Oxford,  and  returned  to  Lichfield,  where  shortly  afterwards  his 
father  died,  leaving  him  a  legacy  of  only  twenty  pounds. 

Johnson  thereupon  endeavored  to  make  a  living  by  entering  what 
Leslie  Stephen  calls  the  most  depressing  of  all  employments;  he 
became  a  schoolmaster.  Failing  in  this,  he  sought  literary  employ- 
ment and  published  a  book  called  "  Travels  in  Abyssinia."  Failing  in 
this,  at  the  age  ot  twenty-six  years,  he  married  a  widow,  a  fat,  painted 
widow,  of  forty-eight,  whose  chief  merit  to  superficial  observers  was 
the  possession  of  eight  hundred  pounds.  The  union,  however,  proved 
une.xpectedly  happy.  Mrs.  Johnson  regarded  her  husband  as  the  most 
sensible  man  she  had  ever  met  and  he  repaid  her  with  a  devotion  which 
lasted  during  her  life  and  through  a  widowerhood  of  more  than  thirty 
years.  Immediately  after  his  marriage  he  set  up  a  school  at  Edial, 
but  his  inability  to  manage  parents  was  such  that  he  secured  only 
three  pupils,  and  his  ability  to  teach  was  such  that  when,  after 
some  months  of  instruction  in  English  history,  he  asked  his  pupils 
who  had  destroyed  the  monasteries,  one  of  them  could  give  no 
answer,  and  another  replied  "  Jesus  Christ."  The  third  pupil  was 
David  Garrick,  with  whom,  in  March,  1737,  he  set  out  to  seek  his 
fortune  in  London. 

One  of  Johnson's  greatest  distinctions  is  the  fact  that  he  was  the 
first  man  to  make  the  literary  profession  respectable.  When  he 
arrived  in  London  it  was  at  a  low  ebb.  Most  of  the  members  of  the 
profession  lived,  at  that  time,  in  wretched  garrets  in  Grub  Street 
and  literary  remuneration  was  so  small  that  one  publisher,  to  whom 
he  applied  for  employment,  advised  him  to  become  a  porter.  In 
later  years,  on  at  least  one  occasion,  Johnson  himself  shed  tears  on 
recollecting  the  trials  of  this  period.  He  dined  for  eightpence,  a 
cut  of  meat  for  sixpence,  bread  for  a  penny,  and  a  penny  to  the 
waiter,  making  out  the  charge.  Sometimes,  however,  he  was  dinner- 
less,  and  sometimes  he  would  walk  the  street  all  night  with  a  friend 
when  their  funds  could  not  pay  for  a  lodging,  the  two  warming 
themselves  by  denouncing  the  government. 

In  1738,  he  appears  to  have  obtained  regular  employment  as  a 
contributor  to  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine,"  for  which  he  wrote 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON 


269 


accounts  of  the  debates  in  parliament,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Senate 
of  Lilliput."  Long  afterwards  one  of  the  speeches  that  he  had  put 
into  the  mouth  of  William  Pitt  was  praised  in  his  presence  as  superior 
to  anything  in  Demosthenes.  Thereupon  Johnson  said,  "  I  wrote 
that  speech  in  a  garret  in  Exeter  Street."  When  the  company- 
applauded  not  only  his  eloquence  but  his  impartiality,  Johnson  re- 
plied, "  That  is  not  quite  true;  I  saved  appearances,  but  I  took  care 


^w^mm^^^: 


The  Cathedral  at  Lichfield 

that  the  Whig  dogs  should  not  have  the  best  of  it."  In  the  same 
year,  being  reproved  by  Osborne,  a  publisher  who  had  employed  him 
to  make  a  catalogue  of  the  Harleian  Library,  Johnson  knocked  him 
down  with  a  folio,  an  act  which  Leslie  Stephen  says  has  "  doubtless 
refreshed  the  soul  of  many  authors,  who  have  shared  Campbell's 


^70  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

gratitude  to  Napoleon  for  the  sole  redeeming  action  of  his  life — the 
shooting  of  a  bookseller." 

In  1738  Johnson  published  the  book  which  constitutes  his  first 
real  contribution  to  literature,  an  imitation  of  Juvenal's  Fourth 
Satire,  entitled  "  London."  The  theme  of  the  poem  is  embodied  in 
one  couplet: 

"This  mournful  truth  is  everywhere  confess'd  : 
Slow  rises   worth  by  poverty  depress'd." 

It  also  contains  the  familiar  lines: 

"  Of  all  the  griefs  that  harass  the  distrest, 
Sure  the  most  bitter  is  a  scornful  jest." 

The  poem  attracted  the  attention  of  Pope  and  the  patronage  of 
General  Oglethorpe,  the  founder  of  Georgia,  who  became  a  warm 
friend  of  Johnson's. 

Ten  years  later,  in  1 749,  appeared  "  The  Vanity  of  Human 
Wishes,"  an  imitation  of  the  Tenth  Satire  of  Juvenal.  The  under- 
current of  the  poem  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  "  London,"  being 
embodied  in  the  lines: 

"  There  mark  what  ills  the  scholar's  life  assail, 
Toil,  envy,  want,  the  patron,  and  the  jail." 

For  "  London  "  Johnson  received  ten  guineas  and  for  "  The  Vanity 
of  Human  Wishes  "  fifteen. 

While  Johnson  was  thus  toiling  in  obscurity  and  poverty,  his  pupil, 
David  Garrick,  had  become  the  most  successful  actor  of  the  age.  In 
1749  he  put  on  the  stage  Johnson's  tragedy  "  Irene,"  which  is  the 
heaviest,  the  most  unreadable,  and  the  most  undramatic  play  ever 
acted.  Through  Garrick's  friendly  zeal,  however,  it  was  carried 
through  nine  nights,  and  Johnson  received  as  his  share  of  the  profits 
nearly  three  hundred  pounds. 

In  1 747,  he  entered  into  a  contract  with  certain  publishers  to  make 
a  dictionary  of  the  English  language,  for  which  they  agreed  to  pay 
him  the  sum  of  1575  pounds,  part  of  which,  however,  he  had  to  pay 
to  assistants.  In  fact,  the  entire  sum  was  spent  when,  in  1755,  he 
finished  the  job.  Though  this  work  afforded  him  no  real  opportuni- 
ties to  exercise  his  literary  powers,  some  of  the  definitions  bear  the 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  a71 

impress  of  his  personality.  Thus,  for  example,  he  calls  a  lexicogra- 
pher a  "  harmless  drudge,"  and  a  pensioner  "  a  hireling  paid  by  the 
government  to  betray  his  country."  The  science  of  philology  being 
then  undeveloped,  the  work  has,  of  course,  been  supplanted  since  by 
the  labors  of  other  scholars.  Its  publication,  however,  placed  John- 
son at  the  head  of  his  profession.  Henceforth  he  was  the  undisputed 
dictator  among  English  men  of  letters.  He  finished  it  doubtless  with 
a  sigh  of  relief.  When  the  last  sheet  of  the  book  had  been  carried 
to  the  publisher,  whose  name  was  Miller,  Johnson  asked  the  messen- 
ger, "  What  did  he  say?  "  "  Sir,"  said  the  messenger,  "  he  said, 
'  Thank  God  I  have  done  with  him.'  "  "  I  am  glad,"  replied  Johnson, 
"  that  he  thanks  God  for  anything." 

The  publication  of  the  dictionary  was  marked  by  an  explosion 
of  Johnson's  temper  which  Carlyle  says  "  marks  an  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  English  literature,  the  far-famed  blast  of  doom  proclaiming 
into  the  ear  of  the  listening  world,  that  patronage  should  be  no  more." 
When  in  1747  he  published  the  prospectus  of  his  dictionary,  he 
addressed  it  to  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  who  rewarded  him  by 
studiously  ignoring  his  existence  until  seven  years  later,  when  the 
book  was  on  the  point  of  publication.  Johnson  was  righteously 
indignant  and  took  revenge  by  saying,  "  I  thought  that  this  man  had 
been  a  lord  among  wits;  but  I  find  that  he  is  only  a  wit  among  lords." 
Just  before  the  appearance  of  the  dictionary,  Chesterfield  put  forth 
two  articles  in  its  praise.  Johnson  thereupon  bestowed  upon  the  noble 
Earl  a  piece  of  his  mind  in  a  letter,  part  of  which  is  as  follows: 

"  My  Lord, — I  have  been  lately  informed  by  the  proprietor  of  the 
'  World  '  that  two  papers,  in  which  my  '  Dictionary '  is  recommended  to  the 
public,  were  written  by  your  lordship. 

"  When,  upon  some  slight  encouragement,  I  first  visited  your  Lordship, 
I  was  overpowered,  like  the  rest  of  mankind,  by  the  enchantment  of  your 
address. 

"  Seven  years,  my  lord,  have  now  passed,  since  I  waited  in  your  outer 
rooms  or  was  repulsed  from  your  door ;  during  which  time  I  have  been 
pushing  on  my  work  through  difficulties  of  which  it  is  useless  to  complain, 
and  have  brought  it  at  last  to  the  verge  of  publication  without  one  act  of 
assistance,  one  word  of  encouragement,  or  one  smile  of  favour. 

"  Is  not  a  patron,  my  Lord,  one  who  looks  with  unconcern  on  a  man 
struggling  for  life  in  the  water,  and  when  he  has  reached  the  ground 
encumbers  him  with  help?     The  notice  which  you  have  been  pleased  to 


in  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

take  of  my  labours,  had  it  been  early,  had  been  kind ;  but  it  has  been  delayed 
till  I  am  indifferent,  and  cannot  enjoy  it;  till  1  am  solitary,  and  cannot  impart 
it ;  till  1  am  known,  and  do  not  want  it.  i  hope  it  is  no  very  cynical  asperity 
not  to  confess  obligations  where  no  benefit  has  been  received,  or  to  be 
unwilling  that  the  public  should  consider  me  as  owing  that  to  a  patron 
which  Providence  has  enaltled  me  to  do  for  myself. 

"  Your  Lordship's  most  humble,  most  obedient  servant, 

"  Sam  Johnson." 

The  loneliness  to  which  he  alludes  was  due  to  the  death  of  his 
wife,  which  occurred  in  1752.  During  the  years  of  struggle  when  the 
Dictionary  was  in  the  process  of  manufacture  he  had  published  a 
paper  called  the  "  Rambler"  from  March  20,  1750,  to  March  14, 
1752.  This  periodical  was  conceived  somewhat  upon  the  plan  of 
Addison's  "  Spectator,"  but  Johnson  had  neither  Addison's  lightness 
of  touch  nor  his  ability  to  appeal  to  the  public.  Accordingly,  while 
the  "  Spectator  "  had  a  circulation  at  times  as  high  as  fourteen  thou- 
sand, the  "  Rambler  "  seldom  reached  a  circulation  of  more  than  five 
hundred.  It  was,  however,  dignified  and  impressive  in  a  heavy  way, 
and  among  conservative  Englishmen  enjoyed  and  still  enjoys  a  sort 
of  popularity.  Johnson  followed  it,  between  1758  and  1760,  with 
another  paper  along  similar  lines,  called  the  "Idler."  In  1756  he 
undertook  an  edition  of  Shakespeare,  for  which  he  received  generous 
subscriptions.  These  he  proceeded  to  spend,  but  owing  to  his  indo- 
lence he  did  not  complete  the  work  until,  in  1764,  it  had  been  hinted 
to  him  in  no  gentle  terms  by  the  poet  Churchill  that  he  had  obtained 
money  under  false  pretenses.  While  the  notes  and  emendations 
which  he  made  are  of  little  value,  his  introductions  are  marked  by 
such  strong  sense  and  eloquence  that  they  are  readable  to  this  day. 

In  1759  he  was  still  so  poor  that,  on  the  death  of  his  mother,  he 
was  obliged  to  beg  for  money  to  defray  her  funeral  expenses.  In 
order  to  pay  this  debt  he  wrote  his  story  "  Rasselas,"  which  is  a  kind 
of  philosophical  treatise  on  the  "  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,"  the 
narrative  being  only  just  sufficient  to  hold  the  chapters  together  and 
having  no  intrinsic  interest.  It  is,  however,  one  of  Johnson's  most 
interesting  books.  In  his  day  it  was  more  popular,  probably,  than  any 
of  his  other  works  and  in  our  own  it  is  still  read  by  all  students  who 
aspire  to  be  educated. 

W  ith  the  publication  of  "  Rasselas  "  Johnson's  years  of  hardship 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  2Y3 

came  to  an  end,  George  III  was  told  upon  his  accession  to  the  throne 
in  1760  that  he  ought  to  become  a  patron  of  literature,  and  he  accord- 
ingly bestowed  upon  Johnson  a  pension  of  three  hundred  pounds  a 
year.  Though  Johnson  had  defined  a  pension  in  his  Dictionary  as 
"  generally  understood  to  mean  pay  given  to  a  State  hireling  for 
treason  to  his  country/'  he  accepted  it  on  the  understanding  that  he 
was  not  to  lose  his  independence.  Of  the  roar  of  indignation  which 
greeted  his  apparent  inconsistency  he  said,  "  I  wish  that  my  pension 
were  twice  as  large  that  they  might  make  twice  as  much  noise." 

The  chief  occupation  of  his  remaining  years  was  the  cultivation 
of  the  noblest  of  all  arts,  the  art  of  friendship.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  clubable  men  who  ever  lived. 

He  counted  that  day  lost  on  which  he  made  no  new  acquaintance. 
From  his  earliest  years  he  had  taken  pains,  according  to  his  own  state- 
ment, to  keep  his  friendships  constantly  in  repair,  and  in  order  to  do 
this  he  had  always  talked  as  well  as  he  could.  In  spite  of  his  immense 
consumption  of  food  and  tea,  the  frequently  unsanitary  condition 
of  his  clothes,  and  the  occasional  ferocity  of  his  manners,  he  succeeded 
in  keeping  on  excellent  terms  with  most  of  the  best  men  of  his  time. 
Among  his  intimate  companions  was  David  Garrick,  whom  he  abused 
but  permitted  no  one  else  to  abuse.  When  Garrick  died  he  said  that 
his  death  had  "  eclipsed  the  gaiety  of  nations  and  diminished  the 
public  stock  of  harmless  pleasures."  Boswell  ventured  to  criticize 
the  observation.  "  Why  nations?  "  says  he.  "  Did  his  gaiety  extend 
further  than  his  own  nation?  "  "  We  may  say  nations,"  replied 
Johnson,  "  if  we  allow  the  Scotch  to  be  a  nation,  and  to  have  gaiety — 
which  they  have  not."  Then  there  was  Dr.  Bathurst,  whom  Johnson 
loved  because  he  was  a  very  good  hater;  he  hated  fools,  rogues,  and 
Whigs.  Sir  John  Hawkins,  a  solemn  prig,  remarkable  chiefly  for  the 
fact  that  he  thought  all  virtue  consists  in  respectability  and  called  by 
Johnson  a  "  very  unclubable  man,"  found  a  place  in  this  company. 
There,  too,  were  Richardson,  the  novelist,  and  Bennet  Langton,  whose 
exceedingly  tall  and  slender  figure  was  compared  by  someone  to  the 
stork  in  Raphael's  cartoon  in  the  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes.  He 
was  remarkable  for  the  amiable  sanctity  of  his  life.  Topham  Beau- 
clerk,  a  man  of  fashion,  was  another  of  Johnson's  friends.  Though 
18 


>74 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


Inltriui    View   of  ihe   Cheshire  Cheese 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  275 

both  much  younger  than  Johnson,  these  two  were  his  companions,  at 
least  on  one  lark  which  lasted  till  morning  and  ended  by  Johnson 
scolding  Langton  for  leaving  the  party  to  visit  a  "  parcel  of  wretched 
unidea'd  girls."  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  the  greatest  painter  and  one 
of  the  most  amiable  men  of  the  age;  Edmund  Burke,  incomparably 
the  greatest  writer  upon  political  philosophy  in  English  literature, 
the  master  of  a  style  unrivalled  for  richness,  flexibility,  and  vigor; 
and  Oliver  Goldsmith,  himself,  like  Burke,  a  far  greater  writer  than 
Johnson,  were  proud  to  be  numbered  among  his  friends.  Among 
them  also  was  a  rich  brewer  of  Southwark,  named  Thrale,  and  his 
wife,  whose  house  gradually  became  a  second  home  to  Johnson.  The 
most  remarkable  of  his  friends,  however,  was  James  Boswell. 

Boswell  was  born  in  Scotland,  1740;  studied  law  at  Utrecht; 
and  in  1762  made  Johnson's  acquaintance.  His  impudence  and 
curiosity  would  have  made  him  the  prince  of  interviewers  in  these 
days.  He  scraped  acquaintance  with  Voltaire,  Wesley,  Rousseau,  and 
Paoli,  as  well  as  with  Mrs.  Rudd,  a  woman  who  had  got  herself 
imprisoned  in  Newgate.  The  extreme  simplicity  of  his  character 
made  Boswell  rather  lovable  in  spite  of  his  weaknesses.  He  won  and 
kept  Johnson's  friendship  and  for  twenty  years  worshipped  the  old 
philosopher,  who  returned  his  affection,  and  declared  that  Bozzy 
was  the  best  travelHng  companion  in  the  world.  "  Who  is  this  Scotch 
cur  at  Johnson's  heels?  "  a.sked  someone.  "  He  is  not  a  cur,"  replied 
Goldsmith,  "  he  is  only  a  burr."  The  "  burr  "  stuck  until  the  end  of 
Johnson's  life.  He  soon  began  to  take  careful  notice  of  Johnson's 
talk  and  thus  gradually  gathered  material  for  the  most  fascinating 
biography  ever  written.  His  appearance,  when  engaged  in  this  task, 
is  described  by  Miss  Burney.  He  concentrated  his  whole  attention 
upon  his  idol,  not  even  answering  questions  from  others.  When 
Johnson  spoke,  his  eyes  goggled  with  eagerness;  he  leant  his  ear  almost 
on  the  Doctor's  shoulder;  his  mouth  dropped  open  to  catch  every 
syllable.  Sometimes  he  was  ordered  back  to  his  place  like  a  faithful 
but  over-obtrusive  spaniel.  Once  Boswell  said  to  Dr.  Johnson,  "  I 
plan  to  write  your  life."  "  If  I  thought  you  w^re  telling  the  truth," 
replied  the  Doctor,  "  I  should  take  yours."  The  result  of  Boswell's 
devotion  to  his  task  was  a  new  literary  tj'pe.     Previously  biographers 


970  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

had  confined  themselves  to  drawing  a  man's  public  career;  Boswell 
gave  the  first  full-length  picture  of  a  man's  domestic  life.  We  owe 
To  Boswell's  example  such  delightful  books  as  Lockhart's  "  Life  of 
Scott,"  Trevelyan's  "Life  of  Macaulay/'  and  Hallam  Tennyson's 
"  Memoirs  "  of  his  father.  But  no  later  biographer  has  equalled 
Boswell  for  the  very  good  reason  that  no  later  biographer  has  been 
willing  to  take  Boswell's  pains  in  collecting  material. 

After  the  grant  of  the  pension,  which  elevated  Johnson  above  the 
fear  of  poverty,  he  wrote  little.     It  was  his  custom  to  lie  in  bed  until 


The   corner   from    which    Dr.    Johnson    held    fcrth 

noon  and  to  sit  up  until  morning,  talking  to  his  circle  of  admiring 
friends  and  drinking  oceans  of  tea.  In  1766  he  abandoned  wine, 
thereby  improving  his  health  and  diminishing  his  melancholy. 

In  Fel)ruary,  1764,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  founded  a  literary  club, 
which  numbered  among  its  members  Reynolds,  Johnson,  Burke,  Gold- 
smith, Garrick,  Boswell,  Gibbon,  Adam  Smith,  and  several  other  dis- 
tinguished men.  They  met  weekly  at  the  Turk's  Head,  in  Gerard 
Street,  Soho,  at  seven  o'clock.  Here  Johnson  was  in  his  glory  and 
here  he  amused  and  abused  his  friends  to  his  heart's  content.     Here 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON 


277 


one  night  he  said  to  Boswell,  the  subject  of  conversation  being  Pope's 
"  Dunciad,"  "  It  was  worth  while  being  a  dunce  then.  Ah!  Sir,  hadst 
thou  lived  in  those  days."  Of  Gray's  "  Elegy,"  Johnson  remarked 
at  another  session  of  the  club  that  he  was  dull  in  a  new  way  and  that 
made  people  think  him  great.  Here  are  a  few  other  examples  of  his 
wit,  sense,  and  prejudice  which  have  been  preserved  for  us  by  Boswell : 
"  Being  in  a  ship  is  being  in  a  jail,  with  the  chance  of  being 
drowned." 


,  The  Strand,  London 

In  the  centre,  the  church  attended  by  Dr.  Johnson 

"  The  noblest  prospect  which  a  Scotchman  ever  sees  is  the  high- 
road that  leads  him  to  England." 

"  If  he  does  really  think  that  there  is  no  distinction  between 
virtue  and  vice,  why,  sir,  when  he  leaves  our  houses  let  us  count  our 
spoons." 

"  Sir,  your  levellers  wish  to  level  down  as  far  sis  themselves;  but 
they  cannot  bear  levelling  up  to  themselves." 

"  Sir,  a  woman  preaching  is  like  a  dog's  walking  on  his  hind  legs. 
It  is  not  done  well;  but  you  are  surprised  to  find  it  done  at  all." 

"  This  was  a  good  dinner  enough,  to  be  sure,  but  it  was  not  a  dinner 
to  ask  a  man  to." 


^78  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Much  may  be  made  of  a  Scotchman  if  he  be  caught  young." 
"Let  him  go  abroad  to  a  distant  country;   let  him  go  to  some 
place  where  he  is  not  known.     Don't  let  him  go  to  the  devil,  where 
he  is  known." 

"  Patriotism  is  the  last  refuge  of  a  scoundrel." 
"  Hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions." 

"  Questioning  is  not  the  mode  of  conversation  among  gentlemen." 
"  Employment,  sir,  and  hardships  prevent  melancholy." 
"  The  applause  of  a  single  human  being  is  of  great  consequence." 
"  I  have  found  you  an  argument;  I  am  not  obliged  to  find  you  an 
understanding." 

In  1773  Boswell  persuaded  Johnson  to  make  a  journey  to  the 
Hebrides.  They  started  from  Edinburgh  in  August,  1773,  went 
north  along  the  eastern  coast  as  far  as  Inverness,  travelled  across  the 
island  to  Glenelg,  and  took  boat  there  for  Skye.  They  returned  in 
November  via  Inverary  and  Loch  Lomond  to  Glasgow  and  Ayrshire. 
Throughout  the  journey,  Boswell  felt  like  a  dog  who  has  run  away 
with  a  large  piece  of  meat  and  is  devouring  it  peacefully  in  a  corner 
by  himself.  Johnson  wrote  an  account  of  the  tour,  which  was  pub- 
lished at  the  end  of  1 774.  The  only  other  literary  work  which  he  did 
during  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  was  to  write  a  series  of  intro- 
ductions to  the  works  of  the  English  poets,  which  has  frequently  been 
published  separately  under  the  title  of  "  Lives  of  the  Poets."  It  is 
really  Johnson's  best  work  and  is  apt  to  become  a  valued  treasure 
of  anybody  who  has  the  patience  to  study  it. 

His  closing  years  were  devoted,  for  the  most  part,  to  doing  good. 
Of  his  three  hundred  pounds  a  year,  it  is  probable  that  he  seldom  spent 
more  than  eighty  upon  himself.  The  rest  he  used  to  aid  those  who 
were  in  distress.  His  house  was  always  full  of  unfortunate  men  and 
women,  most  of  whom  were  entirely  without  charm  or  interest.  John- 
son himself  said  that  he  hated  to  hear  people  whine  about  metaphysical 
distresses  when  there  was  so  much  want  and  hunger  in  the  world. 
Boswell  has  recorded  for  us  his  love  of  children  and  his  fondness  for 
cats.  His  closing  years  were  saddened  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Thrale 
in  1781,  and  by  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Thrale  a  little  later  married  an 
Italian  named  Piozzi.    Piozzi  was  an  amiable  and  honorable  man,  but 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE  279 

had  the  misfortune  to  be  a  musician.  It  is  just  possible  that  Johnson 
was  a  trifle  jealous  of  him. 

Johnson's  death  occurred  in  1 784.  He  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey  near  his  friend  Goldsmith.  Boswell  tells  us  that  one  day 
Johnson  and  Goldsmith  had  visited  the  Abbey  together  and  that,  as 
they  gazed  upon  the  statues  of  the  dead,  Johnson  solemnly  said: 

"  Forsitan  et  nostrum  nomen  miscebitiir  istis." 

"  Perhaps  ow"  names  also  will  be  mingled  with  these."  As  they 
returned  homewards  through  the  Strand  they  came  to  Temple  Bar, 
where,  in  those  days,  the  heads  of  criminals  were  exhibited  as  a  warn- 
ing to  evil-doers.     Goldsmith,  pointing  at  them,  slyly  repeated  the 

'  "Forsitan  ct  nostrum  nomen  niiscebitur  istis." 

"  Perhaps  our  names  also  will  be  mingled  with  these."  Johnson,  how- 
ever, has  proved  the  truer  prophet.  Though  Johnson  and  Goldsmith 
are  not  buried  together,  their  names  appear  together  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Give  an  account  of  Samuel  Johnson's  life  previous  to  his  marriage. 

2.  Under  what  conditions  did  Johnson  pass  his  first  years  in  London? 

3.  What  was  meant  by  a  "  patron  "? 

4.  What  effect  did  the  publication  of  the  Dictionary  have  upon  Johnson's 

reputation  ? 

5.  What  was  the  occasion   for  the   writing  of   "Rasselas"? 

6.  Name  six  members  of  the  literary  club  at  which  Johnson  presided. 

7.  What  claim  to  fame  have  David  Garrick,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Samuel 

Richardson,  Edmund  Burke,  and  Oliver  Goldsmith? 

8.  Describe  the  character  of  James  Boswell. 

9.  What  makes  a  great  biography? 

10.  What  was  the  main  difference  in  the  literary  atmosphere  of  the  London 
of  Shakespeare  and  the  London  of  Pope  and  Johnson? 

Suggested  Readings. — Read  at  random  for  an  hour  or  so  in  Boswell's 
"Life  of  Johnson."  To  most  students  this  is  all  the  advice  necessary,  but 
some  should  also  read  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Croker's  Edition  o^  Boswell's 
Life  of  Johnson,"  the  article  on  Johnson  in  the  Britannica,  and  Carlyle's 
"  Essay  on  Johnson." 


cT, 


(WAcl  fUM^  f^^ 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
OLIVER  GOLDSMITH  (1728-1774) 

"  He  wrote  like  an  angel." — Garrick. 

"  There  was  hardly  any  kind  of  writing  that  he  did  not  attempt,  and 
ail  that  he  touched  he  adorned." — Johnson. 

To  Oliver  Goldsmith  the  world  owes,  with  a  single  exception,  the 
only  novel  written  in  the  eighteenth  century  which  can  still  be  read 
by  the  average  reader  with  pleasure;  the  most  laughable  farce  comedy 
of  all  time;  and  the  sweetest  poem  ever  written  in  the  heroic  couplet. 

He  was  of  a  Protestant  and  Saxon  family,  which  had  long  been 
settled  in  Ireland.  His  father,  Charles  Goldsmith,  was  pastor  of  a  place 
called  Pallas,  in  the  county  of  Longford.    There  Oliver  was  born  No- 
vember, 1728.    The  picture  of  the  minister  in  the  "  Deserted  Village," 
"  passing  rich  with  forty  pounds  a  year,"  is  probably  a  fairly  accurate 
portrait  of  the  elder  Goldsmith.    While  Oliver  was  still  a  child,  his 
father  was  presented  with  a  living  worth  about  two  hundred  pounds  a 
year,  and  the  family  accordingly  quitted  their  cottage  in  the  wilder- 
ness for  a  spacious  house  near  the  village  of  Lissoy.    Here  the  boy  was 
taught  his  letters  by  a  maid-servant,  and  was  sent,  in  his  seventh  year, 
to  a  village  school  kept  by  Paddy  Byrne,  an  old  quartermaster  on  half 
pay,  who,  in  addition  to  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  taught 
much  local  lore  about  ghosts,  banshees,  and  fairies.     This  worthy 
lives  and  always  will  live  in  the  picture  of  the  schoolmaster  in  the 
"  Deserted  Village."  From  the  humble  academy  kept  by  the  old  soldier 
Goldsmith  was  removed  in  his  ninth  year.     He  went  to  several  gram- 
mar schools,  and  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  ancient  languages. 
He  learned  also  to  know  at  this  time  the  pangs  of  unpopularity.     His 
features  were  harsh;  the  smallpox  had  set  its  mark  on  him  with  more 
than  usual  severity.     His  stature  was  small,  and  his  limbs  ill  put 
together.     The  ridicule  naturally  excited  by  his  appearance  among 
his  companions  was  heightened  by  a  disposition  to  blunder  which  he 
retained  to  the  last.    He  was  pointed  out  as  a  fright  on  the  play- 
280 


OLIVER  GOLDSMITH  281 

ground,  and  flogged  as  a  dunce  in  the  schoolroom.  On  one  occasion, 
however,  at  least,  he  is  said  to  have  turned  the  table  upon  his  tor- 
menters.  At  a  dance,  a  fiddler,  moved  to  laughter  by  his  awkward- 
ness, called  Goldsmith  in  derision  "  ^sop,"  whereupon  the  worm 
turned  and  addressed  the  company  in  the  following  couplet: 

"  Our   herald   hath   proclaimed   this   saying, 
See  ^sop  dancing  and  his  monkey  playing." 

In  his  seventeenth  year  Oliver  went  up  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
as  a  sizar.  The  sizars  paid  nothing  for  food  and  tuition,  and  little 
for  lodging;  but  they  had  to  sweep  the  court,  carry  up  the  dinner 
to  the  fellows'  table,  change  the  plates,  and  pour  out  the  ale  of  the 
rulers  of  the  society.  While  he  suffered  all  the  humiliation,  Gold- 
smith threw  away  all  the  advantages  of  his  situation.  He  neglected 
his  studies,  stood  low  at  examinations,  was  turned  down  to  the  bottom 
of  his  class  for  playing  the  buffoon  in  the  lecture  room,  was  repri- 
manded for  pumping  on  a  constable,  and  was  caned  by  a  tutor  for 
giving  a  ball  in  his  attic  room. 

Finally,  however,  Oliver  obtained  his  bachelor's  degree,  though  he 
stood  at  the  foot  of  his  class.  In  the  meantime  his  father  had  died, 
leaving  a  mere  pittance.  During  some  time  he  lived  in  the  humble 
dwelling  of  his  widowed  mother.  His  education  seemed  to  have 
fitted  him  to  do  nothing  but  to  dress  in  gaudy  cfothes,  to  Take  a  hand 
at  cards,  to  sing  Irish  airs,  to  play  the  flute,  to  angle  in  summer,  and 
to  tell  ghost  stories  by  the  fire  in  winter.  He  tried  five  or  six  pro- 
fessions without  success.  Then  he  determined  to  emigrate  to  America, 
but  in  six  weeks  came  back  without  a  penny.  Then  he  resolved  to 
study  law,  but  was  enticed  into  a  gaming  house  and  lost  every  shilling. 
Finally  he  thought  of  medicine,  and,  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  was 
sent  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  passed  eighteen  months  in  picking  up 
some  superficial  information  about  chemistry  and  natural  history. 
Thence  he  went  to  Leyden,  still  pretending  to  study  physic.  He  left 
that  university  in  his  twenty-seventh  year  without  a  degree,  with  the 
merest  smattering  of  medical  knowledge,  and  with  no  property  but 
his  clothes  and  his  flute,  and  set  out  upon  a  tour  of  Europe,  rambling 
on  foot  through  Flanders,  France, -^nd  Switzerland.  Somewhere, 
perhaps  in  Italy,  he  contrived  to  obtain  a  medical  degree,  though  how 


282  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

and  where  are  equal  mysteries.  To  the  end  of  his  days  he  was  so 
ii,rnorant  of  biology  that  his  friends  were  wont  to  declare  that  he  could 
not  tell  the  difference  between  any  two  sorts  of  barnyard  fowls  until 
he  saw  them  cooked  and  on  the  table. 

In  1756  he  landed  at  Dover  without  a  shilling,  without  a  friend, 


OLIVER  GOLDSMITH 

1728— 1774 
From  the  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 


and  without  a  calling.  Then  ensued  a  period  for  Goldsmith  of  sharp 
distress.  He  turned  strolling  player.  He  pounded  drugs.  He  joined 
a  swarm  of  beggars.  He  was  for  a  time  the  usher  of  a  school  and  felt 
the  misery  of  this  situation  so  keenly  that  he  turned  booksellers" 


OLIVER  GOLDSMITH  283 

hack;  but  he  soon  found  the  new  yoke  worse  than  the  old  and  was 
glad  to  become  an  usher  again.  He  obtained  a  medical  appointment, 
which  was  speedily  revoked  on  account  of  his  inability  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  place.  Finally,  at  thirty,  he  turned  as  a  last  resort  to 
literature. 

During  the  next  six  years  he  produced  a  succession  of  articles  for 
reviews,  magazines,  and  newspapers;  several  children's  books;  an 
"  Inquiry  into  the  State  of  Polite  Learning  in  Europe  ";  a  *'  Life  of 
Beau  Nash  ";  ?n  epitome  of  "  The  History  of  England  ";  and  some 
lively  sketches  of  London  society  in  a  series  of  letters  purporting  to 
be  addressed  by  a  Chinese  traveller  to  his  friends.  Though  all  these 
works  were  anonymous,  he  gradually  rose  in  the  estimation  of  the 
booksellers,  and  the  circle  of  his  acquaintance  widened.  He  became 
intimate  with  Johnson,  who  was  then  considered  the  first  of  living 
English  writers;  with  Reynolds,  the  first  of  English  painters;  and 
with  Burke,  who  had  not  yet  entered  parliament,  but  had  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  writings  and  by  the  eloquence  of  his  conver- 
sation. In  1763  Goldsmith  was  one  of  the  nine  original  members  of 
that  celebrated  fraternity  which  has  sometimes  been  called  the 
Literary  Club,  but  which  has  always  disclaimed  that  adjective  and  still 
glories  in  the  simple  name  of  The  Club. 

He  was  still,  however,  often  reduced  to  pitiable  shifts.  Toward 
the  close  of  1764  his  landlady,  exasperated  by  his  failure  to  pay  his 
rent,  called  in  the  help  of  a  sheriff's  officer.  Goldsmith,  in  great 
distress,  dispatched  a  messenger  to  Johnson,  and  Johnson  sent  back 
the  messenger  with  a  guinea  and  a  promise  to  follow  speedily.  When 
he  came,  he  found  that  Goldsmith  had  changed  the  guinea  and  was 
scolding  his  landlady  over  a  bottle  of  wine.  Johnson  put  the  cork 
into  the  bottle,  and  begged  his  friend  to  consider  calmly  how  money 
was  to  be  procured.  Goldsmith  said  that  he  had  a  novel  ready  for 
the  press.  Johnson  examined  it,  saw  that  it  had  merit,  took  it  to  a 
bookseller,  sold  it  for  sixty  pounds,  and  soon  returned  with  the  money. 
The  novel  which  was  thus  ushered  into  the  world  was  "  The  Vicar 
of  Wakefield." 

But  before  "  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  "  appeared  in  print,  Gold- 
smith had  become  famous.     In  Christmas  week  1 764  he  published  a 


284  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

poem  entitled  "  The  Traveller."     It  was  the  first  work  to  which  he 

had  put  his  name,  and  it  at  once  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  a  legitimate 

English  classic.     Its  opening  Hnes,  in  which  he  strikes  the  keynote 

of  the  poem,  are  as  follows: 

"  Remote,   unfriended,   melancholy,   slow, 
Or  bv  the  lazy  Schcld  or  wandering  Po, 
Where'er  I  roam,  whatever  realms  to  see, 
My  heart  untravell"d  fondly  turns  to  thee;_ 
St'ill  to  my  brother  turns  with  ceaseless  pain,  ^^ 
And  drags  at  each  remove  a  lengthening  cham." 

The  best  critics  declared  that  nothing  finer  had  appeared  in  print 
since  the  fourth  book  of  "  The  Dunciad." 

While  the  fourth  edition  of  ''  The  Traveller  "  was  being  sold,  the 
"  Vicar  of  Wakefield  "  appeared,  and  rapidly  obtained  a  popularity 
which  has  lasted  down  to  our  own  time.  The  plot  is  exactly  the  same 
as  that  of  the  book  of  Job.  A  just  man  is  tormented  by  impossible 
misfortunes,  but  finally  is  disentangled  from  his  troubles.  But  the 
details  of  the  story  afford  a  delightful  mixture  of  pastoral  poetry  and 
vivacious  comedy,  and  the  style  is  as  witty  and  polished  as  that  of 
Addison. 

Goldsmith's  success  as  a  novelist  emboldened  him  to  try  his  for- 
tune as  a  dramatist.  He  wrote  "  The  Good  Natur'd  Man,"  which  was 
acted  at  Covent  Garden  in  1768,  but  was  coldly  received.  The  author, 
however,  cleared  by  his  benefit  nights  and  by  the  sale  of  the  copyright 
no  less  than  five  hundred  pounds,  five  times  as  much  as  he  had  made 
by  "  The  Traveller  "  and  "  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  "  together.  If 
"  The  Good  Natur'd  Man  "  was  a  failure.  Goldsmith's  next  venture, 
"  The  Deserted  Village,"  which  appeared  in  1770,  was  an  immense 
success.  In  plan  this  poem  is  probably  inferior  to  "  The  Traveller," 
but  in  sweetness  it  is  far  superior.  The  pictures  of  sweet  Auburn, 
loveliest  village  of  the  plain,  of  the  village  preacher,  of  the  school- 
master, and  of  the  maiden,  sweet  as  the  primrose  peeps  beneath  the 
thorn,  immediately  won  and  still  continue  to  retain  the  affection  of  all 
lovers  of  poetry. 

In  1773  Goldsmith  produced  a  second  play,  **  She  Stoops  to  Con- 
quer." "  The  Good  Natur'd  Man  "  had  been  too  funny  to  succeed; 
yet  the  mirth  of  "  The  Good  Natur'd  Man  "  was  sober  when  com- 


OLIVER  GOLDSMITH  285 

pared  with  the  rich  drollery  of  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer."  On  this 
occasion,  however,  genius  triumphed.  Pit,  boxes,  and  galleries  were 
in  a  constant  roar  of  laughter.  Seven  generations  have  since  con- 
firmed the  verdict  which  was  pronounced  on  the  night  when  "  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer  "  was  first  performed. 

While  Goldsmith  was  writing  "  The  Deserted  Village  "  and  "  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer,"  he  was  employed  on  other  works,  from  which 
he  derived  little  reputation  but  much  profit.  He  compiled  for  the 
use  of  schools  a  "  History  of  Rome,"  by  which  he  made  three  hun- 
dred pounds;  a  "  History  of  England,"  by  which  he  made  six  hun- 
dred pounds;  a  "  History  of  Greece,"  for  which  he  received  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds;  and  a  "  Natural  History,"  for  which  the  book- 
sellers agreed  to  pay  him  eight  hundred  guineas.  In  these  works  he 
committed  some  strange  blunders,  for  he  knew  nothing  with  accuracy. 
He  was  very  nearly  hoaxed  into  putting  into  the  "  History  of  Greece  " 
an  account  of  a  battle  between  Alexander  the  Great  and  Montezuma. 
He  informs  us  with  perfect  gravity  that  the  furious  tiger  is  a  native  of 
Canada.  "  If  he  can  tell  a  horse  from  a  cow,"  said  Johnson,  "  that 
is  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  of  zoology."  In  spite  of  these  defects, 
however,  the  clearness,  purity,  and  simplicity  of  his  style  make  these 
epitomes  of  his  always  readable  and  not  seldom  highly  amusing. 

Goldsmith  should  now  have  been  a  prosperous  man.  His  fame 
was  great  and  rising.  He  lived  in  the  best  society  of  the  kingdom. 
There  probably  were  never  four  talkers  more  admirable  in  four  dif- 
ferent ways  than  Johnson,  Burke,  Beauclerk,  and  Garrick;  and  Gold- 
smith was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  all  the  four.  He  was,  however, 
by  no  means  their  equal  in  conversation.  Horace  Walpole,  indeed, 
referring  to  his  colloquial  powers,  described  him  as  an  inspired  idiot. 
"  Noll,"  said  Garrick,  "  wrote  like  an  angel,  and  talked  like  poor 
Poll."  His  associates  seemed  to  have  regarded  him  with  a  kindness 
which,  in  spite  of  their  admiration  of  his  writings,  was  not  unmixed 
with  contempt.  In  truth,  there  was  in  his  character  much  to  love,  but 
little  to  respect.  He  was  so  generous  that  he  quite  forgot  to  be  just, 
and  was  so  liberal  to  beggars  that  he  had  nothing  left  for  his  tailor 
and  his  butcher.  He  has  sometimes  been  represented  as  a  man  of 
genius,  cruelly  treated  by  the  world,  and  doomed  :o  struggle  with 


280  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

difficulties  which  at  last  broke  his  heart.  He  did,  indeed,  go  through 
much  misery  before  he  had  done  anything  considerable  in  literature. 
But  after  his  name  had  appeared  on  the  title-page  of  "  The  Traveller  " 
he  had  none  but  himself  to  blame  for  his  distresses.  His  average 
income,  during  the  last  seven  years  of  his  life,  certainly  exceeded 
four  hundred  pounds  a  year,  and  four  hundred  pounds  a  year  ranked, 
among  the  incomes  of  that  day,  at  least  as  high  as  sixteen  hundred 
pounds  a  year  at  present.  But,  if  Goldsmith  had  had  the  wealth 
of  John  D.  Rockefeller,  it  would  not  have  sufficed.  He  always  spent 
twice  as  much  as  he  had.  Finally  he  found  himself  more  than  two 
thousand  pounds  in  debt,  and  he  saw  no  hope  of  escaping  from  his 
embarrassments.  His  spirits  ana  health  gave  way.  He  was  attacked 
by  a  nervous  fever,  and  undertook  to  prescribe  for  himself.  "  I  do 
not  practise,"  he  once  said;  "  I  make  it  a  rule  to  prescribe  only  for 
my  friends."  "  Pray,  dear  Doctor,"  said  Beauclerk,  "  alter  your  rule, 
and  prescribe  only  for  your  enemies."  Now,  in  spite  of  this  excellent 
advice,  Goldsmith  prescribed  for  himself.  The  remedy  aggravated  the 
disease.  Finally  he  called  in  real  physicians,  but  too  late.  He  died 
April  4,  1774,  in  his  forty-sixth  year. 

A  short  time  after  his  death  a  little  poem  of  his  called  "  Retalia- 
tion "  was  published.  Among  his  other  weaknesses  was  that  of  never 
being  on  time.  On  one  of  the  occasions  on  which  he  had  kept  a  num- 
ber of  his  friends  waiting,  they  amused  the  interval  in  writing  epitaphs 
on  the  late  Dr.  Goldsmith.  Of  these,  Garrick's,  perhaps,  was  the 
most  famous: 

"  Here  lies   Nolly  Goldsmith,   for  shortness  called  '  Noll,' 
Who  wrote  like  an  angel,  and  talked  like  poor  Poll." 

In  order  to  revenge  himself  upon  these  friends,  he  betook  himself  to 
his  pen  and  produced  "  Retaliation,"  which  contains  two  matchless 
portraits,  those  of  Burke  and  Garrick,  which  have  ever  since  been 
associated  with  their  names. 

Some  of  Goldsmith's  friends  honored  him  with  a  cenotaph  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  for  which  Johnson  wrote  the  inscription.  It  is 
much  to  be  lamented  that  Johnson  did  not  leave  to  posterity  a  more 
durable  memorial  of  his  friend.     A  Life  of  Goldsmith  would  have 


OLIVIER  GOLDSMITH  287 

been  an  invaluable  addition  to  "  The  Lives  of  the  Poets."  Goldsmith, 
however,  has  been  fortunate  in  his  biographers.  Among  them  have 
been  Washington  Irving,  Forster,  the  friend  and  biographer  of  Charles 
Dickens,  and  Lord  Macaulay.  Irving's  "  Life  of  Goldsmith  "  is  a 
delightful  work;  that  of  Forster  is  interesting  and  scholarly;  but  the 
highest  place  must,  in  view  of  its  brevity,  the  clearness  and  sim- 
plicity of  its  style,  and  its  admirable  framework,  be  assigned  to  the 
essay  of  Lord  Macaulay. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Read   "  The  Deserted  Village "   and  determine  whether  the   economic 

condition  described  has  any  analogy  in  the  communitj*  in  which  you 
live. 

2.  What  do  you  know  of  Goldsmith's  career  at  Trinity  College,  Dulilin  ? 

3.  Give  an  account  of  Goldsmith's  life  up  till  his  thirtieth  year. 

4.  Who  was  Beau  Nash  ? 

5.  How  was  "The  Vicar  of  Wakefield"  ushered  into  the  world? 

6.  In  how  many  forms  of  literature  did  Goldsmith  excel? 

7.  Name  one  of  his  productions  in  each. 

8.  What  do  you  know  of  his  conversational  powers? 

9.  Where  is  he  buri-ed  and  next  to  whom  ? 

10.  Do  you  believe  automobiles,  moving  pictures,  and  the  other  ''  speeders  " 
in  our  life  to-day  are  conducive  to  the  development  of  the  conver- 
sational power  possessed  by  the  men  in  Doctor  Johnson's  circle? 

Suggested  Readings. — "  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  "  The  Deserted 
Village,"  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,"  and  excerpts  from  "  The  Citizen  of  the 
World  "  will  give  the  student  a  taste  of  Goldsmith's  many-sided  genius. 
The  essay  by  Thackeray  in  the  volume  "  English  Humorists  "  will  be  found 
interesting.     Washington  Irving's  "  Life  of  Goldsmith  "  is  delightful. 


^.^fr/<         ^^r^C^i76^>v^ 


S^dt^     ("^-^A^ 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

EDMUND  BURKE  (1729-1797) 

"  An  extraordinary  tmni."— Johnson. 

"  In  amplitude  of  comprehension  and  richness  of  imagination  superior 
to  every  orator,  ancient  or  modern."— .l/afai</a>'. 

Edmund  Burke,  the  greatest  of  the  English  orators  and  one  of 
the  best  prose  writers  of  all  time,  was  born  January  12,  1729,  at 
Dublin.  His  youth  was  passed  in  a  period  full  of  spiritual  and 
national  expansion.  The  year  1730  witnessed  the  beginnings  of 
Methodism,  the  year  1732  the  birth  of  George  Washington  and  the 
foundation  from  philanthropic  motives  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia, 
and  the  year  1733  the  publication  of  the  first  number  of  "Poor 
Richard's  Almanac  "  by  Benjamin  Franklin.  In  1741  we  find  Burke 
at  school  at  Ballitore  under  a  Quaker  named  Abraham  Shackleton, 
who  seems  to  have  accomplished  at  least  two  things  for  his  distin- 
guished pupil.  First,  he  made  him  his  life-long  friend,  a  feat  of  which 
any  teacher  might  be  proud,  and,  second,  he  imparted  to  him  a  brogue 
which  likewise  persisted  to  the  end  of  Burke's  days. 

In  1743,  Burke  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where  Oliver 
Goldsmith  was  also  at  that  time  a  student.  During  his  college  days, 
Burke  was  inspired  successively,  to  use  his  own  words,  with  the  furor 
mathcmaticus,  the  juror  logicus,  the  juror  historicus,  and  the  juror 
poeticus.  His  college  letters,  like  all  of  his  writings,  are  full  of  illu- 
minating ideas.  He  spoke  even  then  of  Ireland  feelingly  as  our  "  own 
poor  country."  He  found  it  easier  to  follow  the  gospel  in  the  country 
than  at  Trinity.  He  said,  "  The  best  way  to  kill  thought  is  to  sit  three 
hours  daily  in  a  college  library."  His  favorite  authors  at  this  time 
were  Cicero,  Milton,  and  Spenser.    He  was  graduated  in  1748. 

Two  years  later  he  was  sent  by  his  father  to  London  to  study  law. 

As  Augustine  Birrell  says,  in  his  brilliant  lecture  on  Burke,  "  He 

arrived  in  the  metropolis  without  any  desperate  purpose  to  make  his 

fortune  and  immediately,  like  the  sensible  Irishman  he  was,  pro- 

288 


EDMUND  BURKE  289 

ceeded  to  fall  in  love  with  Peg  Woffington."  For  the  next  ten  years, 
he  lived  in  comparative  obscurity.  During  this  period  he  frequented 
debating  clubs;  spent  his  vacations  in  wandering  about  England, 
lodging,  on  these  excursions,  with  quaint  old  landladies  who  thought 
he  must  be  an  author  until  they  observed  that  he  never  got  drunk 
and  always  paid  his  bills;  and  was  everlastingly  interested  in  every- 
thing, from  law  to  carrots.  Of  the  former  he  said  in  words  which  a 
student  will  do  well  to  remember,  "  The  law  does  more  to  quicken 
and  invigorate  the  natural  understanding  than  all  the  other  kinds  of 
learning  put  together."  Of  the  latter  Birrell  says  for  him  that  his 
letters  to  Arthur  Young  on  carrots  still  tremble  with  emotion.  It  has 
been  hinted  that  during  this  period  he  visited  America  incognito. 
He  himself  says  of  these  years,  "  I  was  not  swaddled  and  dandled  and 
swathed  into  a  legislator.  Nitor  in  adversum  is  the  motto  for  a  man 
like  me.  At  every  step  of  my  progress  in  life  (for  in  every  step  I 
was  traversed  and  opposed)  and  at  every  turnpike  I  met,  I  was 
obliged  to  show  my  passport.  Otherwise  no  rank,  no  toleration  even, 
for  me." 

During  these  years,  his  father  supported  him  loyally  with  money, 
though  it  appears  that  he  at  last  became  a  trifle  impatient  for  his  son 
to  give  some  definite  evidence  of  success.  His  son  replied  in  1756 
by  publishing  two  books,  the  one  "  A  Vindication  of  Natural  Society," 
the  other  an  "  Essay  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful."  In  "  The  Vindi- 
cation of  Natural  Society,"  Burke  argues  ironically  that,  if  human  laws 
are  based  on  reason,  religion  also  should  be  based  on  reason.  He 
really  believed  nothing  of  the  sort,  but  felt  that  civil  institutions 
cannot  be  safely  judged  by  the  tests  of  pure  reason.  His  argument 
was  that,  if  you  overthrow  religion,  you  overthrow  established  gov- 
ernment. This  same  scorn  of  rationalism  in  government,  which  he 
thus  showed  at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  flamed  out  in  overwhelm- 
ing passion  at  its  close  when  he  was  confronted  by  the  French  Revo- 
lution. The  "  Essay  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful  "  was  a  crude 
but  significant  effort  to  establish  a  new  basis  of  literary  criticism.  He 
made  one  fundamental  contribution  to  the  science  in  the  idea  that  it 
must  be  based  upon  psychology.  The  book  attracted  the  commen- 
dation of  the  great  German  critic,  Lessing,  and  it  brought  from  Burke's 
19 


290  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

father  a  substantial  gift  of  money,  conduct  which,  on  his  part,  Birrell 
says,  must  be  counted  both  sublime  and  beautiful. 

'  The  next  year  Burke  published  a  book  entitled  "  European  Settle- 
ments in  America,"  which  shows  that  he  was  already  a  close  student 


EDMUND  BURKE 

1729 — 1797 

From  the  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 

of  American  affnirs,  and  in  1759  he  became  editor  of  a  publication 
called  the  "  Annual  Register,"  which  was  a  sort  of  year-book  some- 
what like  those  which  our  great  newspapers  now  publish  annually.  At 
about  the  same  time  he  secured  a  position  as  secretary  to  Gerard 
Hamilton. 


EDMUND  BURKE  291 

This  notorious  politician  is  remembered  in  our  day  chiefly  as 
"  single  speech  Hamilton,"  because,  after  making  one  successful  speech 
in  parliament,  he  never  ventured  to  attempt  another,  being  afraid  that 
he  might  injure  his  reputation  as  an  orator.  Hamilton  soon  dis- 
covered Burke's  ability  and  made  him  a  proposition  which  amounted 
to  this,  that  he  should  feed  and  clothe  Burke  for  the  term  of  his 
natural  life  and  that  Burke  should  devote  his  brains  to  his  employer's 
interests.  Burke  indignantly  resented  the  offer,  left  Hamilton's  ser- 
vice, and  vented  his  indignation  by  writing  to  his  friends  letters  in 
which  he  described  his  opinion  of  Hamilton.  In  one  of  them  he 
says  that  he  was  a  sullen,  vain,  proud,  selfish,  canker-hearted,  envious 
reptile.  Augustine  Birrell  says  of  these  outbursts  that  he  thanks 
Burke  for  permitting  him,  after  the  lapse  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  to  warm  his  hands  at  this  indignation. 

With  the  Hamilton  episode  Burke's  period  of  obscurity  may  be 
said  to  have  come  to  an  end.  He  speedily  found  a  new  position  as 
secretary  to  the  Earl  of  Rockingham,  who  was  at  that  time  leader 
of  the  Whig  party,  and  in  spite  of  indolence  appears  to  have  been  an 
amiable  and  honorable  man.  At  all  events  he  won  Burke's  lasting 
regard.  He  also  paid  his  debts,  which  were  neither  few  nor  small. 
In  return  Burke  furnished  the  brains  during  the  next  twenty  years  or 
more  for  the  party  and  what  was  equally  important  forced  his  col- 
leagues by  his  own  energy  to  be  energetic  themselves.  In  order  to 
understand  the  importance  of  the  service  which  Burke  thus  rendered 
to  mankind,  it  is  necessary  to  get  firmly  in  mind  the  political  situation 
at  the  time  when  he  entered  Rockingham's  service. 

In  1760,  upon  the  death  of  George  the  Second,  a  serious  menace 
to  English  liberty  arose  in  the  person  of  George  the  Third.  Upon 
the  advice  of  one  of  his  female  relatives  he  had  decided  to  be  king 
in  reality  as  well  as  in  name.  As  the  age  was  past  when  he  could 
attain  this  end  by  decapitating  and  imprisoning  his  subjects,  he 
undertook  to  reach  the  same  result  through  bribery,  and  actually  suc- 
ceeded during  a  period  of  rather  more  than  twenty  years  in  so  cor- 
rupting the  House  of  Commons  that  English  liberty  was  little  more 
than  a  hollow  show.  Historically,  the  most  famous  of  his  attempts 
to  carry  out  his  purpose  is  found  in  those  attacks  he  made  on  American 


29^2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

liberty  which  culminated  in  the  American  Revolution.  Burke  soon 
perceived,  and  perhaps  was  the  first  Englishman  to  do  so,  the  tyran- 
nical purpose  of  the  king,  and  he  clearly  set  this  forth  in  a  pamphlet 
called  "  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Discontents,"  published  in  1770. 

In  1774  he  made  a  further  contribution  to  this  great  campaign 
by  his  pamphlet  on  "American  Taxation."  In  1775,  he  delivered 
in  parliament  a  speech  on  "  Conciliation  with  the  Colonies,"  and  in 
1777  he  published  "  A  Letter  to  the  Sheriffs  of  Bristol."  These  three 
documents,  says  Henry  Morley,  constitute  the  most  perfect  manual 
in  our  literature  for  one  who  approaches  the  study  of  public  affairs. 
They  are  the  best  of  Burke's  works.  In  fact,  as  somebody  has  said, 
they  are  the  one  monument  of  .he  struggle  between  the  Mother 
Country  and  the  Colonies  on  which  an  Englishman  can  look  back 
with  pride.  They  are  characterized  throughout  by  deep  ethical 
quality,  complete  mastery  of  facts,  and  a  style  which  unites  the  best 
qualities  of  business-like  prose  with  the  highest  imaginative  power. 

Of  the  three  pieces,  the  speech  "  On  Conciliation  with  America  " 
is  the  most  interesting  to  an  American  student.  It  should  be  read 
as  a  document  of  first-rate  importance  in  American  history  and 
regarded  as  being  in  the  same  class  with  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence and  the  speeches  of  Patrick  Henry  as  a  milestone  in  the  history 
of  American  independence.  It  contains,  perhaps,  the  most  accurate 
and  instructive  analysis  of  the  American  character  ever  made  and  the 
most  illuminating  of  all  explanations  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  American  liberty.  Though  Burke  did  not  succeed  in  convincing 
the  corrupt  House  of  Commons  before  whom  he  delivered  the  speech, 
the  principles  of  colonial  government  which  he  laid  down  in  it  now 
constitute  the  fundamental  law  of  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
and  South  Africa. 

When  the  king's  policy  finally  broke  down  in  1782  with  the  sur- 
render of  Comwallis  at  Yorktown,  and  Burke's  party  came  into 
power,  he  was  rewarded  only  with  the  minor  office  of  paymaster  of  the 
forces.  Why  the  man  who  had  taken  the  leading  part,  as  Burke  had, 
in  the  struggle  which  thus  ended  in  a  triumph  for  his  principles  was 
not  made  -a  member  of  the  cabinet  has  puzzled  many  people.  The 
explanation  is  perhaps  found  in  three  facts:  (1)  Burke  was  an  Irish- 


EDMUND  BURKE  293 

man  with  a  pronounced  Irish  brogue;  (2)  he  was  always  in  debt;  (3) 
he  was  eccentric  and  quick  tempered.  His  conduct  in  his  office  as 
paymaster  of  the  forces,  however,  was  admirable,  and  he  instituted  in 
connection  with  it  one  reform  of  lasting  benefit  to  England.  Previous 
paymasters  had  pocketed  the  interest  on  the  public  money  which  they 
held.  Burke  diverted  this  to  the  coffers  of  the  state  and  fixed  his  own 
salary  at  the  comparatively  modest  sum  of  four  thousand  pounds 
a  year. 

Burke's  public  life  has  been  said  to  fall  into  three  divisions.  The 
first  of  these,  which  has  already  been  described,  dealt  with  America; 
the  second  with  the  Empire  of  the  English  in  India;  and  the  third 
v/ith  the  French  Revolution. 

The  student  who  wishes  to  obtain  a  vivid  picture  of  the  foundation 
of  the  English  Empire  in  India  will  do  well  to  read  Macaulay's  bril- 
liant essays  on  CHve  and  Hastings.  In  1785,  the  latter  had  been 
for  some  time  viceroy  of  India,  and,  in  order  to  send  dividends  to  his 
employers,  the  East  India  Company,  had  been  guilty  of  extorting 
large  sums  of  money  from  the  natives.  In  that  year,  Burke,  to  whom 
injustice  in  India  was  the  same  as  injustice  to  England  and  who 
probably  knew  more  about  India  than  any  other  man  who  had  never 
visited  that  country,  made  a  speech  in  parliament  on  the  "  Nabob  of 
Arcot's  Debts."  It  is  a  masterpiece  of  invective  and  it  caused  the 
impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings  by  the  House  of  Commons.  Hast- 
ings' trial  was  begun  in  1787.  Macaulay's  description  of  the  opening 
scene  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  passages  in  his  works.  In  part  it  is 
as  follows: 

"  The  place  was  worthy  of  such  a  trial.  It  was  the  great  hall  of 
William  Rufus,  the  hall  which  had  resounded  with  acclamations  at 
the  inauguration  of  thirty  kings,  the  hall  which  had  witnessed  the  just 
sentence  of  Bacon  and  the  just  absolution  of  Somers,  the  hall  where 
the  eloquence  of  Strafford  had  for  a  moment  awed  and  melted  a 
victorious  party  inflamed  with  just  resentment,  the  hall  where  Charles 
had  confronted  the  High  Court  of  Justice  with  the  placid  courage 
which  has  half  redeemed  his  fame.  Neither  military  nor  civil  pomp 
was  wanting.  The  avenues  were  lined  with  grenadiers.  The  streets 
were  kept  clear  by  cavalry.    The  peers,  robed  in  gold  and  ermine. 


^iji  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

were  marshalled  by  the  heralds  under  Garter  King-at-arms.  The 
judges  in  their  vestments  of  state  attended  to  give  advice  on  points 
of  law.  The  gray  old  walls  were  hung  with  scarlet.  The  long  galleries 
were  crowded  by  an  audience  such  as  has  rarely  excited  the  fears  or 
the  emulation  of  an  orator.  There  were  gathered  together,  from  all 
parts  of  a  great,  free,  enlightened,  and  prosperous  empire,  grace  and 
female  loveliness,  wnt  and  learning,  the  representatives  of  every  science 
and  of  e\er\-  art.  There  were  seated  round  the  Queen  the  fair-haired 
young  daughters  of  the  House  of  Brunswick.  There  the  ambassadors 
of  great  kings  and  commonwealths  gazed  with  admiration  on  a  spec- 
tacle which  no  other  country  in  the  world  could  present.  There 
Siddons,  in  the  prime  of  her  majestic  beauty,  looked  with  emotion  on 
i  scene  surpassing  all  the  imitations  of  the  stage.  There  the  his- 
torian of  the  Roman  Empire  thought  of  the  days  when  Cicero  pleaded 
the  cause  of  Sicily  against  Verres,  and  when,  before  a  senate  which 
still  retained  some  show  of  freedom,  Tacitus  thundered  against  the 
oppressor  of  Africa.  There  were  seen,  side  by  side,  the  greatest 
painter  and  the  greatest  scholar  of  the  age.  The  spectacle  had 
allured  Reynolds  from  that  easel  which  has  preserved  to  us  the 
thoughtful  foreheads  of  so  many  writers  and  statesmen  and  the  sweet 
smiles  of  so  many  noble  matrons.  It  had  induced  Parr  to  suspend 
his  labors  in  that  dark  and  profound  mine  from  which  he  had 
extracted  a  vast  treasure  of  erudition — a  treasure  too  often  buried 
in  the  earth,  too  often  paraded  with  injudicious  and  inelegant  osten- 
tation, but  still  precious,  massive  and  splendid. 

"  The  sergeants  made  proclamation.  Hastings  advanced  to  the 
bar,  and  bent  his  knee.  The  culprit  was  indeed  not  unworthy  of  that 
great  presence.  He  had  ruled  an  extensive  and  populous  country, 
had  made  laws  and  treaties,  had  sent  forth  armies,  had  set  up  and 
pulled  down  princes.  And  in  his  high  place  he  had  so  borne  himself 
that  all  had  feared  him,  that  most  had  loved  him,  and  that  hatred 
itself  could  deny  him  no  title  to  glory  except  virtue.  He  looked  like 
a  great  man,  and  not  like  a  bad  man. 

"  His  counsel  accompanied  him,  men  all  of  whom  were  afterwards 
raised  by  their  talents  and  learning  to  the  highest  posts  in  their 
profession.     But  neither  the  culprit  nor  his  advocates  attracted  so 


EDMUND  BURKE  296 

much  notice  as  the  accusers.  There  were  Fox  and  Sheridan,  the 
English  Demosthenes  and  the  English  Hyperides.  There  was  Burke, 
ignorant,  indeed,  or  negligent,  of  the  art  of  adapting  his  reasonings 
and  his  style  to  the  capacity  and  taste  of  his  hearers,  but  in  amplitude 
of  comprehension  and  richness  of  imagination  superior  to  every  orator, 
ar.cient  or  modern. 

"  The  charges  and  the  answers  of  Hastings  were  first  read.  The 
ceremony  occupied  two  whole  days.  On  the  third  day  Burke  rose. 
Four  sittings  were  occupied  by  his  opening  speech,  which  was  intended 
to  be  a  general  introduction  to  all  the  charges.  With  an  exuberance 
of  thought  and  a  splendor  of  diction  which  more  than  satisfied  the 
highly  raised  expectation  of  the  audience,  he  described  the  character 
and  institutions  of  the  natives  of  India,  recounted  the  circumstances 
in  which  the  Asiatic  empire  of  Britain  had  originated,  and  set  forth 
the  constitution  of  the  Company  and  of  the  English  presidencies. 
Having  thus  attempted  to  communicate  to  his  hearers  an  idea  of 
Eastern  society  as  vivid  as  that  which  existed  in  his  own  mind,  he 
proceeded  to  arraign  the  administration  of  Hastings  as  systematically 
conducted  in  defiance  of  morality  and  public  law.  The  energy  and 
pathos  of  the  great  orator  extorted  expressions  of  unwonted  admira- 
tion from  the  stern  and  hostile  Chancellor,  and,  for  a  moment,  seemed 
to  pierce  even  the  resolute  heart  of  the  defendant.  The  ladies  in  the 
galleries,  unaccustomed  to  such  displays  of  eloquence,  excited  by  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion,  and  perhaps  not  unwilling  to  display  their 
taste  and  sensibility,  were  in  a  state  of  uncontrollable  emotion. 
Handkerchiefs  were  pulled  out;  smelling-bottles  were  handed  round; 
hysterical  sobs  and  screams  were  heard;  and  Mrs.  Sheridan  was 
carried  out  in  a  fit.  At  length  the  orator  concluded.  Raising  his 
voice  till  the  old  arches  of  Irish  oak  resounded,  '  Therefore,'  said  he, 
'  hath  it  with  all  confidence  been  ordered  by  the  Commons  of  Great 
Britain,  that  I  impeach  Warren  Hastings  of  high  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors. I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  Commons'  House  of 
Parliament,  whose  trust  he  has  betrayed.  I  impeach  him  in  the  name 
of  the  English  nation,  whose  ancient  honor  he  has  sullied.  I  impeach 
him  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  India,  whose  rights  he  has  trodden 
underfoot,  and  whose  country  he  has  turned  into  a  desert.     Lastly. 


i94 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


were  marshalled  by  the  heralds  under  Garter  King-at-arms.  The 
judges  in  their  vestments  of  state  attended  to  give  advice  on  points 
of  law.  The  gray  old  walls  were  hung  with  scarlet.  The  long  galleries 
were  crowded  by  an  audience  such  as  has  rarely  excited  the  fears  or 
the  emulation  of  an  orator.  There  were  gathered  together,  from  all 
parts  of  a  great,  free,  enlightened,  and  prosperous  empire,  grace  and 
female  loveliness,  wit  and  learning,  the  representatives  of  every  science 
and  of  every  art.  There  were  seated  round  the  Queen  the  fair-haired 
young  daughters  of  the  House  of  Brunswick.  There  the  ambassadors 
of  great  kings  and  commonwealths  gazed  with  admiration  on  a  spec- 
tacle which  no  other  country  in  the  world  could  present.  There 
Siddons,  in  the  prime  of  her  majestic  beauty,  looked  with  emotion  on 
a  scene  surpassing  all  the  imitations  of  the  stage.  There  the  his- 
torian of  the  Roman  Empire  thought  of  the  days  when  Cicero  pleaded 
the  cause  of  Sicily  against  Verres,  and  when,  before  a  senate  which 
still  retained  some  show  of  freedom,  Tacitus  thundered  against  tJie 
oppressor  of  Africa.  There  were  seen,  side  by  side,  the  greatest 
painter  and  the  greatest  scholar  of  the  age.  The  spectacle  had 
allured  Reynolds  from  that  easel  which  has  preserved  to  us  the 
thoughtful  foreheads  of  so  many  writers  and  statesmen  and  the  sweet 
smiles  of  so  many  noble  matrons.  It  had  induced  Parr  to  suspend 
his  labors  in  that  dark  and  profound  mine  from  which  he  had 
extracted  a  vast  treasure  of  erudition — a  treasure  too  often  buried 
in  the  earth,  too  often  paraded  with  injudicious  and  inelegant  osten- 
tation, but  still  precious,  massive  and  splendid. 

"  The  sergeants  made  proclamation.  Hastings  advanced  to  the 
bar,  and  bent  his  knee.  The  culprit  was  indeed  not  unworthy  of  that 
great  presence.  He  had  ruled  an  extensive  and  populous  country, 
had  made  laws  and  treaties,  had  sent  forth  armies,  had  set  up  and 
I)ulled  down  princes.  And  in  his  high  place  he  had  so  borne  himself 
that  all  had  feared  him,  that  most  had  loved  him,  and  that  hatred 
itself  could  deny  him  no  title  to  glory  except  virtue.  He  looked  like 
a  great  man,  and  not  like  a  bad  man. 

"  His  counsel  accompanied  him,  men  all  of  whom  were  afterwards 
raised  by  their  talents  and  learning  to  the  highest  posts  in  their 
profession.     But  neither  the  culprit  nor  his  advocates  attracted  so 


ignorant:  i"^"^ 


illuci- 


■Tkc: 


Foursittit;^ 

tobeager.c:- 

nfthoushti' 


EDMUND  BURKE  297 

of  society  seem  to  be  crumbling  underneath  our  feet,  the  teachings 
of  Burke  are  peculiarly  valuable.  The  world  needs  him  and  his 
wisdom  to-day. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  his  views  on  the  French 
Revolution  were  philosophically  correct.  He  was,  perhaps,  too  close 
to  it  to  understand  fully  its  real  nature.  It  is  altogether  probable, 
indeed,  that  nobody  analyzed  it  correctly  until  Carlyle  published 
his  "  History  of  the  French  Revolution."  Thomas  Paine  asked 
pointedly,  having  reference  to  Burke's  fine  talk  about  Marie  Antoin- 
ette, if  men  were  to  weep  over  the  plumage  and  forget  the  dying  bird, 
meaning  that  the  fate  of  the  French  aristocracy  mattered  little  while 
the  people  were  starving.  Burke  quarrelled  with  Fox  concerning 
the  French  Revolution  and  Fox  said  of  him  that  it  was  lucky  for 
Burke  that  he  took  the  royal  side,  because  his  violence  would  certainly 
have  got  him  hanged  if  he  had  taken  the  other. 

Burke  died  in  1797. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Read  to  the  class  a  paper  upon  England's  colonial  policy  in  India  and 

America  between  1720  and  1776. 

2.  What  was  the  characteristic  of  the  youthful  Burke's  mind? 

3.  To  what  political  party  would  Burke  belong  if  he  lived  to-day  in  the 

United  States? 

4.  Why  was  there  an  impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings? 

5.  How  could  Burke  consistently  support  the  Americans  in  the  American 

Revolution  and  oppose  the  French  in  the  French  Revolution? 

6.  How  do  you  feel  Burke's  attitude  toward  public  affairs  may  be  compared 

with  that  of  our  public  men  to-day? 

7.  What  were  the  Irish  traits  in  his  character  ? 

8.  What  other  great  Irishman  have  we  considered  in  reading  of  the  eigh- 

teenth century? 

9.  In  considering  Burke  are  you  prompted  to  think  of  the  relation  of  litera- 

ture and  thought  to  life? 
10.  Who  were  Burke's  greatest  contemporaries  in  the  House  of  Commons? 
(Refer  to  any  English  history.) 

Suggested  Readings. — Reading  of  "  Conciliation  with  the  Colonies," 
"  A  Letter  to  the  Sheriffs  of  Bristol,"  and  "  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Dis- 
contents "  will  make  for  better  citizenship.  In  the  works  of  William  Hazlitt 
you  will  find  a  vivid  essay  on  the  oratory  of  Edmund  Burke.  Augustine 
Birrell's  essay  on  Burke  in  "  Obiter  Dicta  "  is  witty,  just,  and  eloquent. 


.-^^^C-^i^^^-^?^^ 


CHAPTER  XXV 
OTHER   EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY   WRITERS 

"  Jove  tuned  the  lyre  when  ancient  Homer  sung, 
But  God  himself  inspired  Doctor  Young."— 5Mr*e. 

"  Except  by  '  Clarissa  Harlowe '  I  was  never  so  moved  by  a  work  of 
genius  as  by  'Othello.' "—5.  R.  Haydon. 

Richard  Bentley  (1662-1742)  was  master  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  and  the  first  classical  scholar  of  his  time.  He  had  the 
distinction  of  being  attacked  by  Swift  in  "  The  Battle  of  the  Books  " 
and  by  Pope  in  "  The  Dunciad,"  and  of  being  left  after  both  encoun- 
ters in  complete  mastery  of  the  field. 

Matthew  Prior  (1664-1721)  was  an  accomplished  writer  of  light 
verse.  Thackeray  compares  him  to  Horace.  Among  his  good 
things  are  these: 

(o)   "On  his  deathbed  poor  Lubin  lies; 
His  spouse  is  in  despair  ; 
With  equal  grief  and  mutual  cries 
They  both  express  their  care. 

" '  A  diflferent  cause,'  say  Parson  Sly, 
'  The  same  effect  may  give  ; 
Poor  Lubin  fears  that  he  may  die, 
His  wife  that  he  may  live.'  " 

{b)  "  Nobles  and  heralds,  by  your  leave. 

Here  lies  what  once  was  Matthew  Prior, 
A  son  of  Adam  and  of  Eve: 
Can  Stuart  or  Nassau  claim  higher?" 

Daniel  Defoe  (1659-1731),  in  addition  to  writing  "Robinson 
Crusoe,"  was  an  active  pamphleteer.  His  "  True-born  Englishman," 
1701,  written  to  support  the  policy  of  William  HI,  had  a  circulation 
of  80,000  copies.  "The  Shortest  Way  with  the  Dissenters,"  1703, 
was  burned  by  order  of  parliament,  and  the  author  was  sentenced 
to  stand  thrice  in  the  pillory  and  to  be  imprisoned  during  the  queen's 
pleasure.     From  1 704  to  1 713  he  published  a  newspaper  called  "  The 

2!»H 


OTHER  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS      299 

Review,"  in  addition  to  80  other  works  aggregating  4720  pages. 
"  Moll  Flanders  "  and  "  A  History  of  the  Plague  "  as  works  of  fiction 
are  only  a  little  below  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  in  merit.  Though  not  a 
poet,  he  sometimes  wrote  good  verses.     For  example: 

"  Wherever  God  erects  a  house  of  prayer, 
The  devil  always  huilds  a  chapel  there  : 
And  'twill  be  found,  upon  examination. 
The  latter  has  the  lartrer  cong^regation." 


ROBINSON    CRUSOE 
A  reproduction  of  frontispiece  in  first  edition  (17 19) 

John  Gay  (1683-1732)  wrote  the  first  musical  comedy  in  English, 
"  The  Beggars'  Opera,"  and  the  best  "  Fables  "  in  the  language, 
always  excepting  George  Ade's.     Swift  loved  him,  and  of  him  Pope 

wrote.  "Of  manners  gentle,  of  affections  mild; 

In  wit  a  man,  simplicity  a  child." 

Among  his  sayings  the  following  have  passed  into  proverbs: 

"  How  happy  I  could  be  with  either. 
Were  t'other  dear  charmer  away !  " 


;50,)  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Whence  is  thy  learning  ?     Hath  thy  toil    ^^ 
O'er  hooks  consumed  the  midnight  oil? 

"  Where  yet  was  ever  found  a  mother 
Who'd  give  her  booby  for  another?" 

"  Those  who  in  quarrels  interpose 
Must  often  wipe  a  bloody  nose." 

"  And  when  a  lady's  in  the  case  ^^ 

You  know  all  other  things  give  place. 

"Life  is  a  jest  and  all  things  show  itj 
I  thought  so  once  and  now  I  know  it." 

Isaac  Watts  ( 1674-1748)  wrote  about  500  hymns,  some  of  which 
are  poetical  and  many  familiar.     For  example: 

"  Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite, 
For  God  hath  made  them  so; 
Let  bears  and  lions  growl  and  fight, 
For  'tis  their  nature,  too." 

"  How  doth  the  little  busy  bee 
Improve  each  shining  hour, 
.\nd  gather  honey  all  the  day 
From  every  opening  flower  !  " 

"  For  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do." 

"  And  while  the  lamp  holds  out  to  burn 
The  vilest  sinner  may  return." 

"  When  I  can  read  my  title  clear 
To  mansions  in  the  skies, 
I'll  bid  farewell  to  every  fear 
And  wipe  my  weeping  eyes." 

"  There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight 
Where  saints  immortal  reign." 

Ambrose  Philips  (1675-1749)  was  distinguished  by  Addison's 
friendship  and  Pope's  enmity.  The  latter  described  his  style  as 
Xamby  Pamby,  a  nickname  that  stuck,  being  at  once  descriptive  of 
his  person,  his  poetry,  and  his  name.  Its  felicity  is  seen  from  these 
lines  to  a  little  girl  in  her  mother's  arms: 

"Timely  blossom,  infant  fair, 
Fondling  of  a  happy  pair. 
Every  morn  and  every  night 
Their  solicitous  delight, 


OTHER  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS      301 

SIeef)ii]g,  waking,  still  at  ease, 
Pleasing  without  skill  to  please, 
Little  gossip,  blithe  and  hale, 
Tattling  many  a  broken  tale. 
Singing  many  a  tuneless   song, 
Lavish  of  a  heedless  tongue." 

John  Philips  (1676-1709)  loved  Milton,  and  wrote  a  mock  heroic 
poem  in  Miltonic  blank  verse  called  "  The  Splendid  Shilling,"  which 
Addison  pronounced  the  finest  burlesque  poem  in  the  English 
language. 

Edward  Young  ( 1 683-1 765 )  in  his  youth  wrote  tragedy  and  satire. 

Having  lost  all  of  his  family  by  death,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  he 

turned  to  moral  poetry  and  produced  his  best  work,  his  "  Night 

Thoughts."     These  as  a  whole  are  sombre  and  none  too  readable, 

but  they  contain  passages  of  power  and  beauty.     A  few  of  his  best 

thoughts  follow: 

"  Tired   nature's   sweet   restorer,   balmy   sleep !  " 

"  The  bell   strikes  one.     We  take  no  note  of  time 
But  from  its  loss." 

"  Be  wise  to-day ;  't  is  madness  to  defer." 

"  Procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time." 

"At  thirty  man  suspects  himself  a  fool; 
Knows  it  at  forty  and  reforms  his  plan; 
At  fifty  chides  his  infamous  delay; 
Resolves,  and  re-resolves ;  then  dies  the  same." 

"  How  blessings  brighten  as  they  take  their  flight !  " 

"  Beautiful  as  sweet, 
And  young  as  beautiful,  and  soft  as  young. 
And  gay  as  soft,  and  innocent  as  gay !  " 

"  Wishing  of  all  employments  is  the  worst." 

"  By  night  an  atheist  half  believes  in  God." 

"  Death  loves  a  shining  mark,  a  signal  blow." 

"  The  man  that  blushes  is  not  quite  a  brute." 

"  An  undevout  astronomer  is  mad." 

"  Be  wise  with  speed  ; 
A  fool  at  forty  is  a  fool  indeed." 

"  Think  naught  a  trifle,  though  it  small  appear; 
Small  sands  the  mountain,  moments  make  the  year, 
And  trifles  life." 


;}0-2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Cieorge  Berkeley  (1685-1753)  did  three  noteworthy  things.  He 
kept  Pope's  friendship;  proved  that  the  act  of  seeing,  though  it  seems 
immediate,  is  really  a  reasoned  interpretation  of  signs  and  hints; 
and  showed  that  the  world  we  see  and  touch  is  not  a  substance  which 
produces  our  sensations  but  a  substance  which  depends  for  its  exist- 
ence on  being  perceived.     Byron  alludes  to  this  when  he  says: 

"  When  Bishop  Berkeley  said  there  was  no  matter 
And  proved  it,  't  was  no  matter  what  he  said." 

Berkeley  had  also  great  faith  in  tar  water  and  the  future  of  America, 
being  the  author  of  a  poem  on  the  latter  subject  which  contains  the 
famous  line, 

"  Westward  the  star  of  empire  takes  its  way." 

Joseph  Butler  (1692-1752),  bishop  and  moralist,  wrote  "The 
-Analogy  of  Religion,"  a  book  which  won  for  him  the  name  of  the 
Bacon  of  theology.  So  closely  did  he  apply  himself  to  his  studies  that 
Queen  Caroline  thought  he  was  dead,  until  the  jolly  old  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  informed  her  that  he  was  only  buried. 

Colley  Cibber  (1671-1757)  tried  to  rewrite  Shakespeare's 
"  Richard  HI  "  and  was  justly  punished  for  his  presumption  by  being 
made  King  of  the  Dunces  bj^  Pope.  His  version,  however,  has  some 
good  lines  not  found  in  the  original.     Among  them  are: 

"  The  aspiring  youth  that  fired  the  Ephesian  dome 
Outlives  in  fame  the  pious  fool  that  raised  it." 

■'  Off  with  his  head !     So  much  for  Buckingham  !  " 

J(jhn  Byrom  (1692-1763)  wrote  several  graceful  poems  and  one 
immortal  epigram,  the  following  Jacobite  toast: 

"  God  l)less  the  King — I  mean  the  faith's  Defender; 
God  bless — no  harm  in  blessing — the  Pretender. 
But  who  Pretender  is  or  who  is  King, 
God  bless  us  all !  that's  quite  another  thing." 

James  Thomson  (1700-1748)  between  1726  and  1730  published 
a  poem  in  blank  verse  called  "  The  Seasons.  '  This  work  is  the  first 
conspicuous  example  in  English  of  what  is  called  the  poetry  of  nature. 
It  pleased  Pope  to  such  an  extent  that  he  bought  three  copies  at  a 
guinea  each.  Some  of  its  lines  are  familiar  to  people  who  never  heard 
of  Thomson  and  more  of  them  deserve  to  be.    For  instance: 


OTHER  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS      303 

"  Come,  gentle  Spring!     Ethereal  mildness,  come  !  " 


"Delightful  task!  to  rear  the  tender  thought. 
To  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot." 

"  An  elegant  sufficiency,  content, 
Retirement,   rural   quiet,    friendship,   books. 
Ease  and  alternate  lalior,  useful  life. 
Progressive  virtue,  and  approving  Heaven!" 


Spring.     1.  i. 
Ibid.    1.   1 152. 

Ibid.     1.   1 1 58. 
"  The  meek-eyed  Morn  appears,  mother  of  dews." 

Summer.     1.  47. 
"  Ships  dim-discovered  dropping  from  the  clouds." 

Ibid.    1.  946. 
"  Autumn  nodding  o'er  the  yellow  plain." 

Autumn.    1.  2. 
"  Loveliness 
Needs  not  the  foreign  aid  of  ornament, 
But  is,  when  unadorned,  adorned  the  most. 
Thoughtless  of  beauty,  she  was  beauty's  self." 

Ibid.     1.  204. 
"  Cruel  as  death  and  hungry  as  the  grave." 

Winter.     1.  393. 
"  These  as  they  change.  Almighty  Father  !    these 
Are  but  the  varied  God.     The  rolling  year 
Is  full  of  Thee." 

Hymn.     1.  i. 

In  1748,  just  before  his  death,  Thomson  completed  another  fine 
poem,  "  The  Castle  of  Indolence,"  which  was  written  in  playful  imi- 
tation of  Spenser's  style  and  stanza.  Four  lines,  which  Irving  chose 
as  motto  for  his  "  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow,"  will  show  the  spirit  of 
the  piece: 

"  A  pleasing  land  of  drowsyhead  it  was. 

Of  dreams  that  wave  before  the  half-shut  eye. 
And  of  gay  visions  in  the  clouds  tliat  pass. 
Forever  flushing  round  a  summer  sky." 

Thomson  is  also  the  author  of  the  British  national  anthem,  "  Rule, 
Britannia,"  and  of  the  unfortunate  line, 

"  O  Sophonisba  !     Sophonisba,  O  !  " 

which  somebody  parodied  with 

"  O  Jemmy  Thomson  !     Jemmy  Thomson,  O  !  " 

John  G.  Saxe,  in  his  poem  on  early  rising,  has  this  appreciative  stanza 
on  Thomson: 


304  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Thomson,  who  sang  ahout  the  seasons,  said 
That   people   always   ought   to    rise   in   season; 
But  then  he  wrote  it,  lying— in  his  bed 
At  ten  o'clock  a.m.,  the  very  reason 
He  wrote  so  charmingly;  the  simple  fact  is         ^^ 
His  preaching  wasn't  sanctioned  by  his  practice. 

Henry  Carey,  the  author  of  "  God  save  the  King,"  also  wrote  the 
lively  song,  "  Sally  in  our  Alley,"  which  is  still  sung  and  deserves  to 
be-  invented  the  word  "  namby-pamby  ";  and  composed  the  funniest 
burlesque  tragedy  in  the  world.  This  was  "  Chrononhotonthologos, 
the  King  of  Queerrummania."  Among  its  characters  are  Aldeboronti- 
phoscophornio  and  Rigdumfunnidos.  It  was  said  of  Carey  that  he 
led  a  life  free  of  reproach  and  hanged  himself  October  4,  1743.  Among 
his  characteristic  lines  and  sayings  are  these: 


'  Nauty  Pauty  Jack-a-dandy 
Stole  a  piece  of  sugar  candy 
From  the  Grocer's  shoppy-shop. 
And  away  did  hoppy-hop." 

'  Of  all  the  girls  that  are  so  sweet 
There's  none  like  pretty  Sally; 
She  is  the  darling  of  my  heart. 
And  she  lives  in  our  alley." 

'  Of  all  the  days  that's  in  the  week 
I  dearly  love  but  one  day. 
And  that's  the  day  that  comes  betwixt 
A  Saturday  and  Monday." 


Namby-Pamby. 


Sally  in  our  Alley. 


Ibid. 


"  Aldeborontiphoscophornio  ! 
Where  left  you  Chrononhotonthologos?" 

Chrononhotonthologos.     Act  I,  So.  i. 

"  Go  call  a  coach,  and  let  a  coach  be  called ; 
And  let  the  man  who  calleth  be  the  caller  ; 
And  in  his  calling  let  him  nothing  call 
But  '  Coach  !   Coach  !   Coach  ! '   Oh  for  a  coach,  ye  gods  !  " 

Ibid.     Act  n,  Sc.  4- 

John  Wesley  (1703-1791),  the  founder  of  the  Methodist  sect, 
travelled  250,000  miles,  preached  40,000  sermons,  kept  one  of  the  most 
interesting  "  Journals  "  ever  written,  and  made  about  30,000  pounds 
by  his  writings.  The  sayings,  "  Cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness  "  and 
"  I  am  always  in  haste  but  never  in  a  hurry,"  are  his.     His  brother 


OTHER  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS       305 

Charles  ( 1 707-1 788)  wrote  6500  hymns,  among  them  "  Jesus,  lover  of 
my  soul,"  "  Hark,  the  herald  angels  sing,"  and  "  Come,  O  thou  travel- 
ler unknown." 

Thomas  Gray  (1716-1771)  spent  most  of  his  life  in  study  and 


THOMAS  GRAY 
1716 — 1771 
From  the  portrait  by  J.   G.  Eccardt. 

seclusion  at  Cambridge,  varying  this  routine  by  travel,  by  writing 
exquisite  letters  to  his  friends,  and  by  occasional  ventures  into  the 
realms  of  poetry.  Of  this  he  wrote  all  too  little,  but  all  he  wrote  was 
so  good  that  he  was  soon  considered  one  of  the  best  of  the  minor 
20 


306  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

English  bards.  His  "  Ode  to  Eton  College,"  his  "  Ode  to  Adversity," 
his  "  Pindaric  Odes,"  and  his  "  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard  "  have 
a  distinction  and  a  power  which  place  him  far  above  Young  and 
Thomson,  on  a  level  with  Dryden,  and  not  far  below  Milton.  To 
quote  from  poems  that  are  as  well  known  is  an  impertinence;  to  quote 
from  poems  that  are  as  good  is  a  crime.  The  student  should  read 
them  all  and  should  learn  "  The  Elegy  "  by  heart. 

William  Collins  (1721-1756)  was  a  great  lyrist.  His  "  Ode  to 
Evening,"  his  "  Passions,  an  Ode  for  Music,"  his  "  Dirge  in  Cymbe- 
line,"  and  his  "  Ode  on  the  Death  of  Mr.  Thomson  "  are  all  great 
poems.  He  is  best  rem2mbered,  however,  by  his  "  Ode  written  in 
1745  "  after  the  collapse  of  the  last  Stuart  rebellion: 

"  How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest 
By  all  their  country's  wishes  blest ! 
When   Spring,  with  dewy  fingers  cold, 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallowed  mould, 
She  there  shall  dress  a  sweeter  sod 
Than  Fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 

"  By  fairy  hands  their  knell  is  rung, 
By  forms  unseen  their  dirge  is  sung; 
There  Honour  comes,  a  pilgrim  gray, 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay, 
And  Freedom  shall  a  while  repair, 
To  dwell,  a  weeping  hermit,  there  !  " 

Sir  William  Blackstone  (1723-1780)  between  1765  and  1769 
delivered  at  Oxford  a  series  of  lectures  which  were  afterward  pub- 
lished under  the  title  of  "  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England." 
These  were  so  well  written  and  so  easy  of  comprehension  that  they 
still  remain  the  primer  of  the  study  of  law  both  in  England  and  in 
America. 

The  science  of  political  economy  rests  on  "  The  Wealth  of 
Nations,"  which  was  published  1776  by  Adam  Smith  (1723-1790). 
Among  the  principles  which  he  established  by  this  great  work  are 
these:  that  the  only  source  of  the  wealth  of  nations  is  labor;  that  the 
individual's  wish  to  gain  riches  is  the  cause  of  their  accumulation; 
that  the  manufacturer  and  the  merchant,  as  well  as  the  farmer,  pro- 
duce wealth;  that  wealth  is  more  effectively  produced  when  each  man 
has  a  function  restricted  to  one  line  of  work  than  when  the  energies 


OTHER  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS      807 

of  each  man  are  divided  among  many  of  these;  that  wealth,  instead 
of  consisting  in  gold  and  silver,  depends  on  the  abundance  of  food, 
clothing,  and  enjoyments;  that  what  is  good  for  individuals  is  good 
for  society;  and  that  regulations  intended  to  force  individuals  into 
certain  forms  of  activity  are  pernicious. 

Aside  from  Goldsmith,  the  only  dramatist  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury whose  plays  still  keep  the  stage  is  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan 
(1751-1816).  He  came  from  a  family  who,  during  250  years,  pro- 
duced twenty  seven  authors  and  over  two  hundred  books.  He  was 
also  an  eloquent  orator  and  an  honest  statesman.  His  two  best  plays 
are  "The  Rivals"  (1776)  and  "The  School  for  Scandal"  (1778). 
The  chief  glory  of  the  former  is  Mrs.  Malaprop,  who  is  gifted  with 
an  oracular  tongue  and  a  nice  derangement  of  epithets,  or,  as  she  calls 
them,  epitaphs.  Some  of  her  sayings  are  as  shrewd  as  they  are 
funny.  "  'T  is  safest,"  she  says,  "  in  matrimony  to  begin  with  a 
little  aversion."  "  A  circulating  library  in  a  town  is  an  evergreen 
tree  of  diabolical  knowledge."  "  No  caparisons,  miss,  if  you  please. 
Caparisons  don't  become  a  young  woman."  The  truculent  Sir 
Lucius  O'Trigger  and  the  cowardly  Bob  Acres  are  also  admirably 
drawn.  In  "  The  School  for  Scandal  "  there  is  one  lovely  metaphor, 
"  You  shall  see  them  on  a  beautiful  quarto  page,  where  a  neat  rivulet 
of  text  shall  meander  through  a  meadow  of  margin."  There  is  also 
the  familiar  song: 

"Here's  to  the  maiden  of  bashful  fifteen; 
Here's  to  the  widow  of  fifty; 
Here's  to  the  tlaunting  extravagant  queen ; 
Ard  here's  to  the  housewife  that's  thrifty! 
Let  the  toast  pass ; 
Drink  to  the  lass ; 
I'll  warrant  she'll  prove  an  excuse  for  the  glass." 

A  retort  which  Sheridan  made  in  a  speech  in  reply  to  Henry  Dundas 
likewise  sticks  in  the  memory:  "  The  Right  Honorable  Gentleman 
is  indebted  to  his  memory  for  his  jests  and  to  his  imagination  for 
his  facts." 

William  Cowper  (1731-1800)  spent  most  of  his  life  in  the  country 
in  strict  retirement  owing  to  a  constitutional  shyness  which  occasion- 
ally assumed  the  form  of  a  mild  insanity.    His  poems,  pure,  pious, 


;{()8  ENGLISH  IJTERATURE 

and  playful  as  they  are,  reflect  his  character.  His  first  volume  was 
published  1782.  It  contained  poems  on  "  Truth,"  "  Expostulation," 
"  Hope,"  "  Charity,"  "  Schools,"  "  Conversation,"  and  "  Table 
Talk  " — all  written  in  Pope's  couplet  and  all  lively,  sensible,  and 
agreeable.  In  1 785  Cowper  put  forth  his  greatest  poem,  "  The  Task." 
It  is  in  six  books,  "  The  Sofa,"  "  The  Timepiece,"  "  The  Garden," 
"  The  Winter  Evening,"  "  The  Winter  Morning  Walk,"  and  "  The 
Winter  Walk  at  Xoon."  The  medium  is  blank  verse.  The  contents 
were  aptly  described  by  Charles  Lamb  as  divine  chit-chat.  "  The 
Task  "  became  immediately  popular.  Being  dissatisfied  with  Pope's 
translation  of  Homer,  because  it  is  too  ornamental,  Cowper  next 
proceeded  to  make  one  of  his  own.  By  doing  forty  lines  a  day  he 
finished  the  40,000  lines  of  his  task  in  nine  years.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, supplant  Pope's  version  of  the  "  Iliad  "  and  "  Odyssey."  The 
sonorous  couplets  of  the  latter,  with  their  swift  vigor,  are  still  read, 
while  Cowper's  exact  and  bald  blank  verse  is  forgotten.  In  addition 
to  the  poems  already  mentioned,  Cowper  wrote  several  shorter  pieces 
of  great  merit.  Among  them  are  sixty-eight  hymns  called  the  "  Olney 
Hymns  "  from  the  fact  that  he  wrote  them  at  Olney.  Of  these  the 
last  and  possibly  best  is  "  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way,  his  won- 
ders to  perform."  Then  there  is  "  The  Diverting  History  of  John 
Gilpin,"  an  excellent  merry  ballad.  "  On  Himself,"  "  Between  Nose 
and  Eyes  a  Strange  Contest  Arose,"  "  On  the  Loss  of  the  Royal 
George,"  "  I  am  Monarch  of  All  I  Survey,"  "  On  the  Receipt  of  my 
Mother's  Picture,"  and  "  To  Mary  "  show  in  varying  degrees  grace, 
humor,  and  true  deep  feeling.  The  following  quotations  will  give 
some  slight  notion  of  his  style: 

"  Ages  elapsed  ere  Homer's  lamp  appeared, 

And  ages  ere  the  Mantuan  swan  was  heard: 

To  carry  nature  lengths  unknown  before, 

To  give  a  Milton  birth,  asked  ages  more." 

Table  Talk.    1.  556. 
"  How  much  a  dunce  that  has  been  sent  to  roam 

Excels  a  dunce  that  has  been  kept  at  home !  " 
„       ,  ^i>id.     1.  415. 

A  fool  must  now  and  then  be  right  by  chance." 
„  Conversation.     1.  96. 

A  moral,  sensible,  and   well-bred   man 

Will  not  insult  me,  and  no  other  can." 

Ibid.     1.  193. 


OTHER  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS       .'J09 

"His  wit  invites  you  by  his  looks  to  come, 
But  when  you  knock  it  never  is  at  home." 

Ibid.     I.  303. 
"Absence  of  occupation  is  not  rest; 
A  mind  quite  vacant  is  a  mind  distressed." 

Retirement.     1.  623. 
"  An  idler  is  a  watch  that  wants  both  hands, 
As  useless  when  it  goes  as  when  it  stands." 

Ibid.    1.  681. 
"  But  oars  alone  can  ne'er  prevail 
To  reach  the  distant  coast; 
The  breath  of  heaven  must  swell  the  sail, 
Or  all  the  toil  is  lost." 

Human  Frailty. 

"  I  sing  the  Sofa.     I,  who  lately  sung 
Truth,  Hope,  and  Charity,  and  touched  with  awe 
The  solemn  chords,  and  with  a  trembling  hand 
Escaped  with  fear  from  that  adventurous  flight. 
Now  seek  repose  upon  an  humbler  theme ; 
The  theme  though  humble,  yet  august  and  proud 
The  occasion — for  the  Fair  commands  the  song." 

The  Sofa.     1.  i, 

"  God  made  the  country  and  man  made  the  town." 

Ibid.     1.  749. 

**  O  for  a  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness. 
Some  boundless  contiguity  of  shade, 
Where  rumor  of  oppression  and  deceit, 
Of  unsuccessful  or  successful  war, 
Might  never  reach  me  more." 

The  Timepiece.     1.  i. 

"  Slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England  ;  if  their  lungs 
Receive  our  air,  that  moment  they  are  free." 

Ibid.     1.  40. 
"  England,  with  all  thy  faults  I  love  thee  still. 
My  country !  " 

Ibid.     I.  206. 
"Variety's  the  very  spice  of  life." 

Ibid.     I.  606. 
"  The  cups 
That  cheer  but  not  inebriate." 

The  Winter  Evening.    I.  40. 

"O  Winter,  ruler  of  the  inverted  year!  " 

Ibid.     1.  120. 
"  With  spots  quadrangular  of  diamond  form, 
Ensanguined  hearts,  clubs  typical  of  strife. 
And  spades,  the  emblems  of  untimely  graves." 

Ibid.     1.  217. 
"But  war's  a  game  which  were  their  subjects  wise 
Kings  would  not  play  at." 

The  Winter  Morning  Walk.     1.  187. 


;,o  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learned  so  much; 
Wisdom  is  humble  that  he  knows  no  more 

Winter  Walk  at  Noon.    1.  90. 

"  I  would  not  enter  on  my  list  of  friends, 
(Though  graced  with  polished  manners  and  fine  sense, 
Yet  wanting  sensibility)  the  man 
Who  needlessly  sets  foot  upon  a  worm. 

Ibtd.    1.  500- 

Gilbert  White  (1720-1793)  began  in  1767  and  published  in  1789 
his  "  Natural  Histor>'  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne,"  a  book  which 
in  charm  of  style  is  somewhat  like  Walton's  "  Compleat  Angler."  It 
has  sent  many  boys  to  the  intelligent  study  of  birds.  White  used  to 
carry  a  list  of  birds  in  his  pocket,  and,  as  he  rode  or  walked,  to  note 
daily  the  continuance  or  absence  cf  each  bird's  song. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

I.  Who  wrote  the  first  musical  comedy  for  the  English  stage?     It  was  a 

good  one.     Was  it  the  last? 
2    Who  was  John  Wesley  and  what  thmg  did  he  accomplish? 
3!  Read  Gray's  "  Elegy  Written  in  a  Country  Church-yard."     Write  one 

hundred  words  presenting  the  philosophy  contained  therein. 

4.  Who  was  the  author  of  "How  Sleep  the  Brave"? 

5.  What  are  the  qualities  that  have  made  "Robinson  Crusoe"  a  classic? 
b.  What  were  the  new  principles  presented  in  Adam  Smith's  "  The  Wealth 

of  Nations"? 

7.  Who  created  the  character  of  Mrs.  Malaprop? 

8.  For  what  other  production  is  the  author  of  "  The  Diverting  History  of 

John  Gilpin"  famed? 

9.  Who  was  the  author  of  "The  Analogy  of  Religion"  ? 

10.  With  any  book  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  you  have  in  mind  as  a 
background,  write  a  five-hundred-word  composition  upon  the  aspects 
of  the  century  illustrated  in  the  book. 

Suggested  Readings. — Thomson's  "  Winter  "  deserves  to  be  read  by 
everyone  interested  in  natural  beauty.  An  excellent  way  to  obtain  familiar- 
ity with  the  work  of  the  eighteenth  century  poets  is  to  read  the  poems  in 
any  large  encyclopaedia  of  English  poetry  by  those  men  mentioned  in  the 
text  of  this  book.  You  should  read  Sheridan's  "  School  for  Scandal "  for 
your  own  delight. 


^. 


^- 


'^ty^rr^ 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  RENASCENCE  OF  WONDER  IN  POETRY 

"  The  period  of  wonder  in  English  poetry  may  perhaps  be  said  to  have 
ended  with  Milton.  .  .  .  The  periwig  poetry  of  Dryden  and  Pope 
crushed  out  the  natural  singing  of  the  true  poets.  .  .  .  Then  came 
Thomson's  'Seasons '  and  showed  that  the  worst  was  over." — Theodore 
Watts-Dunton. 

There  are  two  great  impulses  governing  man — the  impulse  to 
take  things  as  they  are,  and  the  impulse  to  look  upon  the  v^^orld  v^dth 
eyes  of  inquiry  and  vv^onder.  In  some  ages  there  is  an  overpowering 
tendency  to  accept  as  true  Pope's  maxim,  "  Whatever  is,  is  right." 
In  others  there  is  a  yearning  to  get  as  far  as  possible  away  from 
actual  conditions,  not  only  in  dress  and  other  material  things,  but 
also  in  the  fine  arts  and  in  methods  of  thought.  The  tendency  is 
for  these  opposite  states  of  mind  to  alternate.  Thus  an  age  of  accept- 
ance is  followed  by  an  age  of  revolt  and  an  age  of  revolt  by  an  age 
of  acceptance.  The  more  intelligent  a  race  the  less  is  it  governed 
by  the  instinct  of  acceptance  and  the  more  by  that  of  wonder.  In 
the  poetry  of  an  age  of  acceptance  the  humor  consists  in  some  depar- 
ture from  the  laws  of  polite  society,  in  that  of  an  age  of  wonder  in 
some  departure  from  the  normal  as  fixed  by  Nature  herself.  The 
first  is  called  relative  humor;  the  second,  absolute  humor. 

In  foreign  lands  the  impulse  of  wonder  has  to  its  credit  the  whole 
magnificent  cycle  of  Greek  poetry,  which  includes  Homer's  "  Iliad  " 
and  "  Odyssey  ";  the  tragedies  of  .^schylus,  Sophocles,  and  Eurip- 
ides; Pindar's  odes;  and  the  pastorals  of  Theocritus.  It  may  claim 
also  the  "  Divine  Comedy  "  of  Dante,  the  first  of  Italian  poets,  and 
the  "  Faust  "  of  Goethe,  the  first  of  German  poets.  The  impulse 
of_acc£ptance,  on  the  other  hand,  was  back  of  the  best  Roman  and 
French  literature,  and  produced  the  matchless  polish  of  Horace's  odes 
and  satires,  the  stately  tragedies  of  Corneille  and  Racine,  Voltaire's 
wit,  and  Moliere's  exquisite  comedies. 

In  England  we  find  Chaucer  influenced  by  both  impulses,  Spenser 
almost  wholly  under  the  influence  of  wonder,  Shakespeare  absorbing 

311 


3l£  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

the  best  elements  of  each,  and  Milton  mainly  ruled  by  wonder, 
Dryden  and  Pope,  on  the  other  hand,  fell  almost  completely  under 
the  spell  of  Rome  and  France,  produced  verse  distinguished  by  great 
brilliancy  and  wit,  and  so  dazzled  their  contemporaries  that  for 
nearly  a  century  their  ideals  were  supreme  in  English  literature. 
From  the  death  of  Milton,  1674,  to  the  publication  of  Thomson's 
"Seasons,"  1730,  hardly  a  line  of  verse  was  written  under  the 
influence  of  wonder.  Thomson,  however,  was  only  a  single  spy.  Far 
into  the  nineteenth  century  battalions  of  poets  continued  to  write 
in  Pope's  manner.  Among  these  the  most  eminent  were  Dr.  Johnson, 
Oliver  Goldsmith,  George  Crabbe,  Samuel  Rogers,  Thomas  Campbell, 
Lord  Byron,  and  our  own  good  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  Chatterton, 
MacPherson,  Bishop  Percy,  and  Cowper  led  a  revolt  against  the  school 
of  Pope  and  Dryden.  Then  came  Burns,  whose  wit  was  equal  to 
Pope's  but  whose  literary  impulses  were  diametrically  opposed  to 
those  of  the  artificial  school.  Burns  was  followed  in  the  late  eighteenth 
and  early  nineteenth  century  by  seven  great  writers  whose  combined 
efforts  drove  the  poetry  of  acceptance  off  the  field  and  restored  the 
note  which  had  temporarily  been  lost  when  Milton  died.  These  seven 
were  William  Wordsworth,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  Percy  Bysshe 
Shelley,  John  Keats,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Lord  Byron,  and  Charles  Lamb. 

In  these  writers  the  principle  of  wonder  produced  a  large  variety 
of  flowers  and  fruit.  Wordsworth,  believing  that  Nature  is  animated 
by  a  living  soul,  sought  and  found  in  common  things  both  his  theme 
and  his  inspiration.  Coleridge,  actuated  by  the  same  belief,  peopled 
the  air  with  supernatural  beings.  Shelley,  who  lacked  their  masculine 
vigor  but  surpassed  both  of  them  in  delicacy  of  fancy,  was  obviously 
influenced  by  both  and  in  some  respects  surpassed  both.  Keats's 
theory,  which  he  must  have  held  constantly  in  mind  as  he  wrote,  was 
that  "  beauty  is  truth,  truth  beauty."  Scott  gave  the  world  both  in 
prose  and  in  verse  a  magnificent  reincarnation  of  old  romance. 
Byron,  whose  literary  taste  led  him  to  admire  Pope  and  indeed  to  try 
to  write  in  his  manner,  was  driven  by  the  democratic  spirit  of  the  age, 
by  his  own  rebellious  soul,  and  by  the  example  of  these  great  contem- 
poraries, to  write,  not  indeed  in  their  manner,  but  in  a  spirit  not  unakin 


THE  RENASCENCE  OF  WONDER  IN  POETRY    313 

to  theirs.  In  Byron,  likewise,  there  was  a  contest.  His  apprecia- 
tion of  literary  technique,  which  was  as  keen  as  Pope's,  linked  him 
with  Pope's  school,  while  his  environment,  his  revolt  against  con- 
ventionality, his  love  of  liberty,  and  his  superabundant  humor  made 
him  a  poet  of  wonder.  Lamb's  contribution  to  the  reformation  of 
literature  was  his  rediscovery  of  the  old  English  dramatists  and  his 
republication  of  their  chief  works. 

It  should  be  added  that  all  of  the  great  English  poets  of  the  later 
nineteenth  century  belong  to  the  natural  rather  than  to  the  artificial 
school,  though  there  is  hardly  one  of  them  whose  style  does  not  show 
a  precision  which  was  far  from  common  before  the  days  of  Pope. 

In  order  to  appreciate  fully  the  spirit  of  the  age  of  Wordsworth 
and  Coleridge,  of  Shelley  and  Keats,  it  is  necessary  to  hold  firmly  in 
mind  a  few  historical  facts.  Of  these  the  main  ones  are  as  follows: 
In  1789  the  French  rebelled  against  their  kings.  In  1793  this  rebel- 
lion culminated  in  a  series  of  bloody  massacres  which  threatened- 
France  with  anarchy  and  united  Europe  against  the  new  republic. 
From  both  dangers  the  French  were  freed  by  the  genius  of  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  (1769-1821).  In  1795  he  put  down  anarchy  in  Paris. 
In  1796  he  drove  the  Austrians  out  of  Italy.  In  1797  he  dictated 
peace  under  the  walls  of  Vienna.  He  was  prevented  from  conquering 
Egypt  and  India  only  by  Nelson's  victory  over  the  French  fleet  in 
the  Bay  of  Aboukir  in  1798.  Having  been  made  first  consul  1799, 
he  again  defeated  Austria  1800,  reconstructed  France  1801-1804, 
and  was  made  emperor  1804.  In  1805  he  crushed  Austria  at  Auster- 
litz,  in  1806  conquered  Prussia  at  Jena,  and  1807  forced  Russia  to  sue 
for  peace.  From  that  time  until  1812  England  alone  seemed  to  stand 
between  him  and  universal  dominion,  having  by  Nelson's  naval  vic- 
tory at  Trafalgar  1804  become  mistress  of  the  seas.  In  1812,  however, 
he  met  disaster  in  Russia,  in  1813  was  beaten  in  Germany,  and  in  1814 
was  forced  to  abdicate.  After  a  year's  exile  in  Elba,  he  returned  to 
France  and  again  seized  the  throne,  but  was  beaten  by  the  English 
and  Prussians  at  Waterloo  and  was  exiled  to  St.  Helena,  where  he 
died  six  years  later.  These  events  exercised  a  profound  influence 
not  only  on  the  details  but  also  on  the  spirit  of  contemporary  English 
literature. 


314  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

gUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

I.  Name  four  of  the  early  leaders  in  the  revolt  of  the  poets  against  the 

school  of  Pope  and  Dryden. 
J.  How  do  you  define  Classicism? 

3.  Name  some  aspects  of  Romanticism. 

4.  Give  a  brief  outline  of  French  History  from  1793  to  1815. 

5.  In  which  are  you  the  more  interested :  In  facts  and  things  as  they  exist, 

or  in  dreams  and  fancies  of  what  might  exist?  Can  you  define  the 
reason  for  your  point  of  view? 

6.  Who  wrote  "  Faust  "  ? 

7.  Who  were  Corneille,  Theocritus,  Pindar,  Voltaire,  Moliere,  Sophocles? 

Name  a  work  of  each.  (You  are  referred  to  any  general  encyclo- 
paedia.) 

8.  Chaucer,  Shakespeare,  Sidney,  Bacon,  Milton,  Dryden,  Pope,  Johnson, — 

did  they  take  the  world  as  they  found  it,  did  they  look  upon  the 
world  with  inquiry  and  wonder,  or  did  they  combine  both  points 
of  view? 

9.  How  does  Pope  still  influence  the  literature  of  our  day? 

10.  How  do  Bishop  Percy,  Thomson,  and  Chatterton  influence  it? 

Suggested  Readings. — Theodore  Watts-Dunton's  article  on  "  The 
Renascence  of  Wonder  in  Poetry,"  in  Chambers's  "  Encyclopaedia  of  Eng- 
lish Literature,"  vol.  iii,  p.  i.  is  the  best  discussion  of  this  question. 
Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Byron  "  contains  a  good  explanation  of  the  difference 
between  the  Classic  and  Romantic  Schools. 


CHAPTER  XXVII  * 
ROBERT  BURNS  (1759-1796) 

"  He  showed  my  youth 
How  verse  may  build  a  princely  throne 
On   humble  truth." 

— Wordsworth. 

"  His  is  that  language  of  the  heart 

In  which   the   answering  heart  would   speak, 
Thought,  words,  that  bid  the  warm  tear  start 
Or  the  smile  light  the  cheek. 

—Halleck. 

About  the  year  1750  a  young  man  from  Aberdeen  named  William 
Bumess  settled  at  Ayr,  Scotland.  At  Ayr  he  built  with  his  own  hands 
a  clay  hut,  set  up  as  a  market  gardener,  and  in  1757  married  Agnes 
Brown,  a  young  woman  who  knew  many  ghost  stories  and  could  sing. 
From  this  union  and  in  this  hut  was  bom,  on  January  25,  1759, 
Robert  Bumess. 

The  old  hut  still  stands.  It  is  now  guarded  with  jealous  care 
as  being,  on  the  whole,  the  most  interesting  structure  in  Sootland. 
There  are  in  it  only  two  rooms,  a  kitchen  and  a  parlor;  Burns  was 
bom  in  the  kitchen;  the  parlor,  if  we  are  to  believe  his  o\nti  words 
in  the  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Xight,"  was  occupied  by  the  cow.  The 
place  is  bare  of  furniture  and  ornament,  except  for  a  copy  of  the 
following  poem,  which  was  written  by  Col.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  and 
entitles  him  on  the  whole  to  the  distinction  of  being  the  most  apprecia- 
tive of  all  the  thousands  who  have  gone  as  pilgrims  to  Ayr: 

"  Though    Scotland  boasts   a   thousand   names 
Of  patriot,  king,  and  peer. 
The  noblest,  grandest  of  them  all, 
Was  loved  and  cradled  here. 

"  'Tis  but  a  cot  roofed  in  with  straw, 
A  hovel  made  of  clay ; 
One  door  shuts  out  the  snow  and  storm  ; 
One  window  greets  the  day. 

*  From  Edwin  L.  Miller's  Introduction  to  Carlyle's  "  Essay  on  Burns." 
Eclectic  English  Classics  Series.  Copyright,  1896,  191 1.  By  permission 
of  American  Book  Company,  Publishers. 

S15 


31G  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  And  yet  I  stand  within  this  room 
And  hold  all  thrones  in  scorn ; 
For  here,  beneath  this  lowly  thatch, 
Love's  sweetest  bard  was  born. 

"  And  here  the  world,  through  all  the  years, 
'As  long  as  day  returns, 
The  tribute  of  its  love  and  tears 
Will  pay  to  Robert  Burns." 

A  week  after  his  birth  a  January  blast  blew  down  a  portion  of  its 
flimsy  wall,  which  fell  on  mother  and  child,  so  that  it  became  neces- 
sary to  carry  them  at  dead  of  night  to  a  neighbor's.  "  It  is  no  won- 
der," to  quote  Burns's  own  words,  "  that  one  ushered  into  the  world 
by  such  a  whirlwind  should  be  the  victim  of  stormy  passions."  But,  if 
the  poet  lost,  the  world  gained  by  this  accident,  for  it  forms  the 
subject  of  one  of  his  songs,  "  There  Was  a  Lad  Was  Born  in  Kyle." 

At  Ayr  the  Bumesses  resided  for  seven  years  more.  Then,  in 
1766,  William  Burness  took  a  farm,  Mt.  Oliphant,  of  107  acres,  which 
lies  about  three  miles  to  the  east  of  Ayr.  Here  for  eleven  years 
Robert  grew  and  hungered.  In  that  household  meat  was  unknown, 
shoes  and  hats  a  luxury.  The  only  commodity  of  which  they  had  an 
abundance  consisted  of  demands  for  rent  from  their  landlord.  Often 
his  agent's  threats  set  the  whole  family  in  tears.  William  Burness, 
however,  kept  his  courage,  educated  his  children,  and  never  lost  his 
faith  in  God.  There  are  few  nobler  pictures  than  that  which  has 
come  down  to  us  of  this  weary  laborer,  after  his  day's  toil  was  over, 
painfully  teaching  his  tired  boys  the  rudiments  of  arithmetic  and  the 
principles  of  morality.  Under  his  father's  instruction  Robert  soon 
shot  up  into  a  tall  stoop-shouldered  lad  and  became  the  best  farm 
hand  in  the  parish.  It  is  worth  noting,  however,  that  the  future 
author  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne  "  and  "  Sweet  Afton  "  could  not  be 
taught  to  sing.  Everybody  expected  much  greater  things  of  his 
brother  Gilbert,  who  did  indeed  eventually  become  two  things  which 
Robert  did  not— a  good  farmer  and  a  highly  respectable  citizen. 

During  his  eighteenth  summer  Robert  had  as  partner  in  the  har- 
vest field  a  young  woman  who  sang  sweetly;  and  he  stumbled,  quite 
by  accident,  it  seems,  upon  the  important  discovery  that,  when  he  held 
her  hand  in  order  to  pick  nettles  out  of  it,  the  result  was  a  peculiar 


ROBERT  BURNS  317 

sensation  in  the  region  of  the  heart  accompanied  by  a  desire  to  write 
verses  for  her  to  sing.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  he  composed  his 
first  song,  "  Handsome  Nell."     Shortly  after,  to  his  father's  great 


ROBERT  BURNS 
1759— 1796 


distress  and  against  his  express  command,  Robert  went  to  a  dancing 

school  to  "  give  his  manners  a  polish."     From  that  moment  he  was 

always  in  love  with  somebody  and  generally  in  trouble  because  of  it. 

At  this  point,  after  eleven  years  of  servitude  at  Mt.  Olipiiant, 


318  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

that  is,  in  1777,  the  Burness  family  migrated  to  Lochlea,  a  farm  of 
110  acres  in  the  parish  of  Tarbolton.  Here,  for  four  years,  they 
enjoyed  what  seemed  to  them  good  times,  Robert  and  Gilbert  each 
receiving  the  munificent  salary  of  seven  pounds  a  year,  when  their 
father  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  be  in  arrears.  Here  Robert 
organized  a  debating  club;  and  fell  in  love  successively,  when  not 
simultaneously,  with  a  kaleidoscopic  procession  of  braw  and  sonsie 
lassies.  There  was  not  a  comely  (or  indeed  a  homely)  girl  in  the 
parish  about  whom  he  did  not  make  at  least  one  song,  and  then  he 
wrote  one  which  included  them  all.  He  also  won  a  reputation  as  a 
discreet  confidant,  which  resulted  in  his  being  in  the  secret  of  half  the 
loves  in  Tarbolton,  a  fact  to  which  a  good  deal  of  the  excellence  of 
his  love  songs  can  probably  be  traced. 

Intellectually  he  was  growing  at  a  gigantic  rate.  At  nine  he  had 
shown  a  nature  already  sensitive  to  literary  effect  by  an  indignant 
outburst  against  the  brutality  of  Shakespeare's  "  Titus  Andronicus." 
At  ten  he  had  been  charmed  by  the  delicate  humanity  of  Addison.  In 
the  midst  of  love-making  and  plowing  he  had  acquired  enough 
French  to  translate  Fenelon's  "  Telemaque  "  and  enough  Latin  to  mis- 
quote Virgil.  He  was  now  reading  incessantly;  at  table  he  always 
had  a  book  in  his  hand.  He  also  began  to  write  and  to  write  well. 
Among  the  songs  that  he  composed  at  Tarbolton  are  "  My  Nanie,  O," 
"  Green  Grow  the  Rashes,"  and  probably  "  Comin'  Thro'  the  Rye." 

From  1781  to  1784  the  family's  fortunes  declined.  With  all  his 
virtues,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  William  Burness  was  a  trifle  litigious. 
At  any  rate,  he  quarrelled  with  his  landlord,  his  health  began  to 
break,  and  his  affairs  went  from  bad  to  worse.  In  order  to  relieve 
the  situation,  Robert  was  sent  in  1781  to  Irvine  to  learn  the  art  of 
dressing  the  flax  that  was  one  of  the  staple  products  of  the  farm.  It 
is  not  on  record  that  he  succeeded  in  this  undertaking,  but  it  is  certain 
that  at  Irvine  he  joined  the  Masons  and  read  his  first  novel.  He  met 
also  at  Irvine  with  Fergusson's  "  Scottish  Poems,"  a  book  which  pro- 
duced a  deep  and  lasting  effect  on  his  mind;  indeed,  it  solidified  his 
poetical  ambition,  which  had  begun  to  evaporate,  and  determined  to 
a  great  extent  the  quality  and  direction  of  his  future  work.  As  the 
net  result  of  the  Irvine  business  Robert  went  back  to  Lochlea  without 


ROBERT  BURNS  319 

a  penny  in  his  pocket  and  with  his  head  full  of  poetical  schemes. 

William  Burness  had  early  perceived  his  son's  genius.  "  Some- 
thing extraordinary,"  he  was  accustomed  to  say  to  his  wife,  "  will 
come  of  that  boy,  either  for  good  or  evil."  It  was  not  permitted  to 
him,  however,  to  witness  the  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy.  He  died 
early  in  1784.  Though  he  left  his  money  affairs  in  ruin,  there  are 
few  students  of  Burns  who  fail  to  conceive  a  lasting  respect  for  his 
father's  character.  The  essential  loveliness  of  his  home  life  lives 
forever  pictured  by  his  son's  pen  in  the  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Night  "; 
and  in  "  John  Anderson,  my  Jo,"  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
Robert  has  given  us  a  true  record  of  the  love  that  from  first  to  last 
Agnes  Brown  bore  for  William  Burness.  In  these  two  poems  we 
have  an  imperishable  monument,  creditable  alike  to  parents  and  son, 
of  the  real  nobility  of  Burns's  father  and  mother. 

The  events  which  followed  the  death  of  William  Burness  are  the 
most  interesting  in  the  poet's  life.  With  his  brother  Gilbert  he  took 
a  farm  named  Mossgiel,  in  the  parish  of  Mauchline.  From  the  stony 
fields  of  this  domain  he  proceeded  to  extract,  not  indeed  flax  and 
oats,  but  an  extraordinary  crop  of  poetical  sheaves.  Here  a  daisy, 
which  his  plowshare  destroyed,  bloomed  again  in  deathless  song. 
Here  a  mouse,  whose  nest  suffered  the  same  fate,  was  raised  to  a 
simil-ar  immortality  of  fame.  It  was  here,  too,  that  the  "  Cotter's 
Saturday  Night  "  was  written.  So  rich,  in  short,  in  literary  achieve- 
ment was  this  period  that  1785  has  been  called  the  Annus  Mirabilis 
of  Burns's  career.  Thanks  to  his  pen  and  luckily  for  mankind,  the 
very  sheep  and  cattle  of  Mossgiel  are  better  known  to-day  than  the 
generals  who  fought  in  India  and  the  statesmen  who  wrangled  at 
Westminster  during  that  generation. 

Burns  also  began  to  write  satire,  and,  what  was  more  ominous, 
religious  satire.  He  spoke  familiarly  of  the  deil  and  disrespectfully 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moodie.  He  became  known  as  the  "  king  of  gude 
fellows."  He  ran  in  debt.  And,  as  was  to  be  expected,  he  fell  in 
love  again.  His  new  sweetheart  was  the  belle  of  the  parish.  Her 
father  was  a  highly-respected  stone  mason  and  a  deacon  in  Mr. 
Moodie's  church.     Her  name  was  Jean  Armour. 

The  poet's  suit  was  successful.     The  lovers  plighted  their  troth. 


3^20  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

The  news  was  broken  to  Jean's  father.  To  say  that  he  was  filled 
with  rage  and  alarm  is  to  put  the  matter  mildly.  Nor  can  we  deny 
that,  from  his  point  of  view,  the  course  he  took  was  justifiable.  He  was 
a  respectable  stone  mason  and  a  pillar  of  the  church.  Burns  was  bank- 
rupt, frivolous,  a  poet,  and  an  infidel.  He  had  dared,  among  many 
other  scandalous  things,  to  pen  this  couplet  as  part  of  an  epitaph: 

"  If  there's  another  world,  he  lives  in  bliss ;  ^^ 
If  there  is  none,  he  made  the  most  of  this." 

For  such  a  ne'er-do-well  to  think  of  marrying  into  a  decent  family 
was  preposterous.  Adam  Armour  forbade  the  union  and  took,  or 
caused  to  be  taken,  such  legal  steps  that  the  bard's  personal  liberty 
was  in  danger.  Jean,  like  a  well-conducted  daughter,  at  this  crisis 
obeyed  her  father  and  refused  to  see  her  lover. 

Bums  was  equally  sensible.  He  sought  and  found  such  solace 
as  he  could  among  his  friends,  fell  in  love  with  another  girl,  and 
decided  to  marry  and  go  with  her  to  America.  The  other  girl  was 
Mary  Campbell,  a  servant  in  the  household  of  Robert's  landlord.  In 
her  sweet  and  pure  nature  he  seems  to  have  found  just  the  balm  that 
was  needed  to  heal  his  cruelly  lacerated  spirit.  In  literature  we  shall 
scarcely  find  nobler  verses  than  those  which  were  inspired  by  his  love 
for  her.  "To  Highland  Mary,"  "Flow  Gently,  Sweet  Afton,"  and  "To 
Mary  in  Heaven"  are  among  the  most  perfect  lyrics  in  any  language. 

The  American  scheme  presented  one  difficulty.  Bums  had  no 
money  to  pay  for  their  passage.  A  friend  suggested  that  he  raise 
the  necessary  funds  by  publishing  his  poems.  Accordingly,  in  August, 
1 786,  there  was  issued  from  the  press  at  Kilmarnock,  a  thin  volume 
entitled  "  Poems:  Chiefly  in  the  Scottish  Dialect.  By  Robert  Burns." 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  name  Burns  was  adopted  by  the  poet 
as  a  sort  of  nom  de  plume;  he  now  laid  aside  permanently  the  old 
form  Buraess.  The  opening  piece  was  the  "  Twa  Dogs."  The  volume 
also  contained,  in  addition  to  a  number  of  shorter  poems,  the  "  Jolly 
Beggars,"  the  "  Address  to  the  Deil,"  and  the  "  Cotter's  Saturday 
Night."  The  book  which  Scotland  considers  the  most  priceless  of  all 
her  possessions  was  thus,  as  Alexander  Smith  puts  it,  printed  to  raise 
ten  pounds  to  carry  the  author  into  exile. 

Burns  himself  had  embarked  in  the  undertaking  with  little  enthu- 


ROBERT  BURNS  321 

siasm.  He  had  written  to  a  friend  that  the  publication  was  the  last 
foolish  act  he  intended  to  commit.  His  misgivings  proved  groundless. 
The  sale  of  the  book  was  rapid.  The  poet  soon  had  twenty  pounds 
in  his  pocket.  He  had  already  obtained  a  place  as  overseer  on  a 
plantation  in  Jamaica.  He  now  hastened  to  take  passage  in  a  ship 
that  was  nearly  ready  to  sail  from  Greenock.  To  his  friends  he  said 
farewell.  To  his  country  he  addressed  some  touching  lines.  Look- 
ing upon  himself  as  a  man  already  dead  to  all  that  he  had  hitherto 
held  dear,  he  composed  what  has  been  called  his  most  sincere  and 
touching  effort  at  self-criticism,  a  "  Bard's  Epitaph." 

But  the  departure  of  his  ship  was  delayed  from  day  to  day.  His 
fame  began  to  spread.  Ayrshire  was  soon  ringing  with  his  praise. 
The  young  farmer  had  fired  a  poetic  shot  that  was  destined  to  be 
heard  round  the  world.  It  happened  that  Dugald  Stewart,  pro-, 
fessor  of  metaphysics  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  was  visiting 
that  summer  near  Mauchline.  The  book  fell  into  his  hands.  He 
saw  its  merit,  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  Edinburgh,  and  made  the  author's 
acquaintance.  The  result  was  that  Burns  was  invited  to  go  to  Edin- 
burgh and  publish  a  second  edition.  Accordingly,  in  November, 
1786,  he  left  America  and  set  out  for  the  Scottish  capital. 

His  progress  thither  was  a  sort  of  triumphal  march,  marked  by 
signal  fires  and  much  hearty  Scotch  hospitality.  He  entered  Edin- 
burgh November  28.  For  a  few  days  he  wandered  about  from  Holy- 
rood  to  the  Castle.  He  found  the  house  where  the  poet  Ramsay  had 
lived,  and  he  knelt,  with  feelings  wherein  pity  struggled  with  indigna- 
tion, at  the  neglected  grave  of  Fergusson.  Then  he  began  to  swim 
into  the  ken  of  Edinburgh.  A  friend  introduced  him  to  Lord  Glen- 
cairn.  By  Glencairn  he  was  presented  to  Creech,  the  leading  publisher 
of  Scotland.  Within  a  fortnight  of  his  arrival  there  appeared  in  the 
"  Lounger  "  a  review  of  his  poems  by  Henry  Mackenzie,  author  of  the 
"  Man  of  Feeling,"  after  the  Bible  Burns's  favorite  book.  In  this  re- 
view the  Ayrshire  Plowboy  was  hailed  as  one  of  the  greatest  poets  of 
the  world.  On  December  20  the  attention  of  Edinburgh  was  again 
called  to  his  existence  by  the  publication  in  the  "Caledonian  Mercury" 
of  "  An  Address  to  a  Haggis." 

Soon  Burns  found  himself  the  lion  of  the  hour.  Edinburgh  was 
21 


3n  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

then  the  home  of  a  brilliant  coterie  of  scholars  and  writers.  Among 
these  men  Bums  moved  like  the  moon  among  the  stars.  Nor  were 
his  triumphs  confined  to  what  may  be  called  intellectual  circles.  The 
leaders  of  society,  especially  the  Duchess  of  Gordon  and  Lord  Glen- 
cairn,  strove  to  do  him  honor.  Young  Francis  Jeffrey  stared  at  him 
in  the  street.  Young  Walter  Scott  met  him  at  a  dinner  party; 
remembered  the  source  of  a  quotation  which  all  the  other  guests  had 
forgotten;  was  rewarded  by  a  smile  and  a  kind  word;  and  ever  after- 
wards remembered  the  poet's  great  black  eyes. 

To  this  happy  picture  there  is,  however,  another  side.  Bums 
moved  amid  these  scenes  with  a  heavy  heart.  His  Highland  Mary 
was  no  more.  What  he  might  have  made  his  life  had  she  lived  we 
do  not  know,  but  she  was  gone  and  he  looked  about  him  with  sad 
and  cynical  eyes.  He  was  in  the  society  of  the  great  but  not  of  it. 
His  grand  vacation  was  drawing  to  a  close.  With  unavailing  wrath 
he  pictured  himself  again  milking  cows  and  mowing  wheat,  while  fools, 
whose  ancestors  had  been  lucky  enough  not  to  get  hanged  in  the  days 
of  Robert  Bruce,  remained  to  simper  at  the  smiles  of  Lady  Gordon 
and  yawn  while  Henry  Erskine  convulsed  the  learned  with  his  wit. 
His  diary  at  this  time  has  been  described  as  a  very  pool  of  Marah. 

Meantime  the  printing  of  his  second  volume  was  far  advanced.  It 
appeared  April  21,  1787.  Three  thousand  copies  were  struck  off.  The 
list  of  subscribers  covered  thirty-eight  pages.  One  nobleman  took  forty 
copies  and  another  forty-two.  No  such  patronage  had  been  given  to 
literar>^  effort  since  Pope's  day.    Burns's  profits  came  to  £500. 

The  first  use  to  which  he  put  this  wealth  must  be  set  down  as  a 
credit  to  his  manhood.  He  sent  nearly  forty  per  cent,  of  it  to  his 
mother  and  to  his  brother  Gilbert,  who  were  still  struggling  on  the 
farm  at  Mossgiel.  He  then  made  three  tours,  one  along  the  southern 
border  of  Scotland,  one  to  the  western  highlands  to  visit  his  Mary's 
grave,  and  a  third  to  Stirling,  Inverness,  Dundee,  and  Aberdeen.  In 
June  he  was  at  Mauchline. 

When  the  mother  who  had  seen  him  go  forth  an  unknown  and 
penniless  outcast  held  him  in  her  arms  the  most  famous  man  in 
Scotland  she  could  say  nothing  except:  "  O  Robbie!  "  The  people 
of  Mauchline  received  him  cordially,  and  Adam  Armour  now  ex- 


ROBERT  BURNS  323 

pressed  a  willingness  to  have  him  for  a  son-in-law.  Jean  was  also 
gracious;  but  Burns  was  disgusted  with  their  servility  and  soon 
returned  to  Edinburgh. 

Here  he  did  three  noteworthy  things.  He  closed  a  lease  for  the 
farm  of  Ellisland,  near  Dumfries;  he  obtained  an  appointment  to  the 
excise  waiting  list;  and  he  engaged  in  a  correspondence  with  Mrs. 
McLehose,  a  lady  who  had  the  knack  of  writing  capital  letters.  The 
most  important  outcome  of  this  affair  was  the  song,  "  Ae  Fond  Kiss," 
the  second  stanza  of  which,  according  to  Sir  Walter  Scott,  contains 
the  essence  of  a  thousand  love  songs.  Mrs.  McLehose  appears  to 
have  been  a  sensible  woman,  and  the  whole  story  of  her  relations  with 
Burns  is  probably  contained  in  the  first  couplet  of  the  song: 

"  Ae  fond  kiss,  and  then  we  sever; 
Ae  fareweel,  alas  !  forever." 

At  all  events  they  parted.  Burns  going  back  to  Mauchline  and  to 
Jean,  who,  late  in  April,  1788,  became  Mrs.  Burns. 

The  enterprise  at  Ellisland  promised  well.  For  a  year  the  poet 
was  happy  there. 

His  poetical  activity,  which  had  lapsed  in  Edinburgh,  began 
to  revive  at  Ellisland.  He  had  become  interested  in  a  scheme  for 
collecting  and  publishing  the  best  of  the  airs  sung  popularly  in 
Scotland.  The  words  of  many  of  these  were  crude  and  unspeakably 
vulgar.  Burns  took  upon  himself  the  task  of  supplanting  them  with 
verses  of  his  own.  His  success  was  so  complete  that  the  old  words 
are  now  for  the  most  part  forever  lost.  The  effect  on  the  refinement 
of  the  Scotch  people  has  been  incalculable.  The  social  uplift  which 
the  poet's  genius  produced  probably  entitles  him  to  a  place  among  the 
regenerators  of  human  morals  side  by  side  with  John  Knox.  At  Ellis- 
land, too,  in  1790,  Burns  did  what  has  been  called  the  best  day's  work 
done  in  Scotland  since  Bannockburn.    He  wrote  "  Tarn  O'Shanter." 

Unfortunately,  the  farm  at  Ellisland  did  not  pay.  The  soil  was 
poor.  On  seeing  it  for  the  first  time  one  of  Burns's  friends  had 
cried:  "  Mr.  Burns,  you  have  made  a  poet's,  not  a  farmer's,  choice." 
His  poetic  fame,  indeed,  constituted  a  formidable  if  not  an  insuper- 
able obstacle  to  his  agricultural  prosperity.  His  work  was  continually 
interrupted  by  visitors.     From  his  financial  troubles  he  took  refuge 


324 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


in  an  appointment  as  an  excise  officer;  but  from  these  guests  no  one 
but  himself  could  save  him,  and  he  was  too  weak  or  too  jovial  to 
shut  the  door  against  them. 

In  November,  1791,  he  abandoned  Ellisland  for  a  little  house 
in  Dumfries.  It  was  a  moment  when  all  eyes  were  fixed  on  France. 
The  Revolution  there,  as  yet  unstained  with  blood,  had  apparently 
freed  the  people  from  agelong  servitude.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
government  in  whose  pay  he  was  stood  on  the  verge  of  war  with 


Burns's  birthplace,  at  Alloway 

the  new  republic,  Burns  was  all  aglow  with  sympathy  for  the  revo- 
lutionists. The  verses  which  he  wrote  at  this  time  are  saturated 
with  this  feeling.  "  Scots  wha  ha  wi'  Wallace  bled  "  certainly  owed 
its  genesis  to  the  parallel,  real  or  fancied,  between  the  Scotch  and  the 
French  struggles  for  freedom.  To  the  same  cause  may  be  traced  the 
composition  of  a  still  greater  poem,  "  A  Man's  a  Man  for  a'  That." 
It  is  for  this  that  Burns  has  ever  since  been  chiefly  valued  in  those 
countries  on  which  the  oppressor's  hand  has  been  laid  most  heavily. 
With  these  poetical  expressions  of  his  political  creed,  however, 
the  poet  was  not  satisfied.    He  publicly  declared  Washington  a  bet- 


ROBERT  BURNS  325 

ter  man  than  Pitt,  which  was  more  true  than  politic;  and  he  secretly 
bought  some  cannon  and  sent  them  to  the  French.  It  is  a  wonder 
that  he  was  not  cast  into  jail  for  this,  but  he  appears  to  have  suffered 
no  inconvenience  except  that  of  being  severely  left  alone  by  Dumfries 
society,  which  to  most  people  would  have  been  no  great  hardship. 

He  remained  a  social  outcast  until  1793,  when  his  sympathies  were 
alienated  from  the  French  by  the  events  which  are  known  to  history 
as  the  Reign  of  Terror,  and  he  joined  the  Dumfries  Volunteers,  a  mili- 
tary organization  designed  to  aid  in  repelling  an  expected  invasion  by 
the  French.  For  them  he  wrote  a  stirring  patriotic  song,  "  Does 
Haughty  Gaul  Invasion  Threat?  "  which  captivated  England  as  well 
as  Scotland,  and  effaced  the  disfavor  into  which  he  had  fallen. 

But  his  work  was  done.  He  was  a  mere  shell  of  his  former  self.. 
Passion  and  drink  had  burned  him  to  a  cinder.  One  night  in  January, 
1796,  he  sat  late  at  the  Globe  Tavern.  On  his  way  home  he  sank 
down  and  fell  asleep  in  the  snow.  The  shock  was  too  much  for  his 
shattered  constitution.  For  months  he  hovered  between  life  and 
death.  At  last,  thanks  to  the  tender  and  skilful  nursing  of  Miss 
Jessie  Lewars,  the  daughter  of  a  brother  exciseman,  he  began  to 
rally  a  little.  As  has  been  finely  said,  he  had  no  money  with  which 
to  repay  her  ministrations,  but  he  rewarded  them  with  what  was  far 
more  precious,  a  song  of  immortal  sweetness.  One  morning  he  said 
to  her:  "  If  you  will  play  for  me  some  tune  for  which  you  would  like 
new  words,  I  will  try  to  make  you  some."  She  sat  down  at  the  piano 
and  several  times  played  over  the  air  of  an  old  song  beginning 

"  The  robin  came  to  the  wren's  nest, 
And  keekit  in,  and  keekit  in." 

In  a  few  moments  the  poet  presented  her  with  the  lines,  "  O  wert  thou 
in  the  cauld  blast." 

This  was  the  expiring  flash  of  Burns's  genius.  Throughout  June 
he  rapidly  grew  worse.  On  July  4  he  went  as  a  last  resort  to  Brow, 
a  sea-bathing  resort  on  the  Solvay.  His  closing  days  were  embit- 
tered by  lack  of  money.  One  of  his  creditors  threatened  him  with  a 
jail.  He  wrote  piteous  letters  to  his  friends  asking  for  loans.  On 
July  18  he  returned  to  Dumfries.  When  he  alighted  from  his  car- 
riage he  could  scarcely  stand.    Three  days  later  all  was  over. 


im  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Then  appeared  one  of  the  most  pathetic  phenomena  which  history- 
records.  As  soon  as  this  great  spirit  had  passed  beyond  the  reach 
of  human  aid,  the  entire  nation  which  he  had  loved  and  served  so 
well  awoke  from  its  indifference  to  him  and  gave  a  spontaneous 
exhibition  of  esteem  which,  had  it  come  to  him  a  few  years  earlier, 
might  have  rendered  tranquil  and  rounded  one  of  the  stormiest  and 
most  fragmentary  of  lives. 

He  was  buried  with  military  honors  on  July  24.  Ten  thousand 
persons  followed  his  body  to  the  grave.  The  whole  nation  put  on 
mourning.  A  subscription  sufficient  to  maintain  his  family  in  decency 
was  speedily  collected.  An  imposing  monument  soon  rose  to  mark 
his  resting  place  in  the  churchyard  at  Dumfries.  The  stream  of 
pilgrims  who  shortly  began  to  set  their  faces  toward  this  shrine  has 
not  ceased  to  broaden  and  to  deepen  with  the  years.  Thither  in  due 
time  came  William  Wordsworth  and  John  Keats  and  Thomas  Carlyle 
and  Alfred  Tennyson.  But  the  honor  of  being  the  most  appreciative 
of  all  the  visitors  at  Dumfries,  like  the  honor  of  being  the  most 
reverent  and  loving  of  the  pilgrims  to  Ayr,  belongs  to  an  American. 
It  was  Fitz-Greene  Halleck  who  wrote  the  words  that  most  fitly 
describe  the  emotions  of  all  who  go  thither  to  do  honor  to  Burns, 
and  that  refuse  most  persistently  to  leave  their  memories: 

"  Such  graves  as   his   are  pilgrim   shrines, 
Shrines  to  no  code  or  creed  confined, 
The  Delphian  vales,  the  Palestines, 
The  Meccas  of  the  mind." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  do  you  know  of  Burns's  father?     Does  he  resemble  any  type  of 

American  with  whom  you  associate? 

2.  How    much    is   there   of   personal   characterization    in   "The    Cotter's 

Saturday  Night"? 

3.  What  is  the  significance  of  Burns  having  written  a  poem  to  a  field 

mouse? 

4.  To  what  noted  poet  did  Burns  owe  a  youthful  inspiration? 

5.  Discuss  Burns's  mental  state  when  being  lionized  in  Edinburgh. 

6.  Read  "  A  Man's  a  Man  for  a'  That."     Tell  the  class  in  a  speech  of  one 

minute  what  it  means  to  you. 

7.  W^hy  do  the  Scotch  honor  the  memory  of  Bobby  Burns?     Do  you  think 

a  great  soldier,  a  great  statesman,  a  great  prize  fighter  or  baseball 
player  as  important  as  a  poet  like  Burns? 


ROBERT  BURNS 


327 


8.  What  were  those  qualities  which  marked  his  genius? 

9.  As  a  special  treat  to  yourself  spend  as  much  of  your  time  as  possible 

during  a  period  of  two  or  three  weeks  reading  Burns's  poetry.  At 
the  end  of  that  period  in  a  five-minute  speech  tell  the  class  what  he 
has  given  you  that  will  stay  with  you. 
10.  In  a  five-hundred-word  composition,  write  an  account  of  Burns's  life 
from  your  own  point  of  view,  not  that  of  your  teacher  or  of  the 
author  of  this  book.     Was  Burns  a  good  man?     If  so,  why? 

Suggested  Readings. — "  Tam  O'Shanter,"  "  To  a  Mouse,"  "  To  a 
Mountain  Daisy,"  "  A  Man's  a  Man  for  a'  That,"  "  The  Cotter's  Saturday 
Night,"  "  A  Red,  Red  Rose,"  "  Highland  Mary "  are  poems  that  have 
become  part  of  the  English  language  and  should  be  read  as  a  beginning. 
Carlyle's  "Essays  on  Burns"  and  his  "Hero  as  Poet"  in  "Heroes  and 
Hero  Worship  "  are  the  most  appreciative  estimates  of  Burns  yet  written. 


P\^oliM  if^iM^ruJ 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH   (1770-1850) 

"  In  honored  poverty  thy  voice  did  weave 
Songs  consecrate  to  truth  and  liberty." 

— Shelley. 

"  I  do  not  know  a  man  more  to  be  venerated  for  uprightness  of  heart 
and  loftiness  of  genius." — Scott. 

"  To  feel  for  the  first  time  a  communion  with  his  mind  is  to  discover 
loftier  faculties  in  our  own." — Talfourd. 

Shakespeare  by  universal  consent  is  entitled  to  the  first  and 
Milton  to  the  second  place  among  English  poets.  The  third  is  more 
doubtful;  but,  though  Chaucer,  Spenser,  Tennyson,  and  Browning  all 
have  their  advocates,  none  of  them  has  a  clearer  title  to  this  distinc- 
tion than  William  Wordsworth.  His  claim  rests,  first,  upon  his 
imaginative  power;  second,  upon  the  fact  that  his  felicity  of  diction 
is  such  that,  aside  from  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  Pope,  no  English 
poet  has  produced  more  unforgettable  lines  and  stanzas;  and  third, 
upon  the  still  more  significant  fact  that  he  introduced  into  English 
literature  a  new  note,  or  rather  several  new  notes.  At  a  time  when 
verse  had  become  so  artificial  that  it  was  no  longer  poetry  he  turned 
the  attention  of  men  back  to  Nature.  He  taught  poets  to  describe 
what  they  saw  instead  of  something  which  they  had  read  or  dreamed. 
He  showed  how  verse  may  build  a  princely  throne  on  humble  truth. 
He  felt  and  taught  that  Nature  is  not  dead  but  is  the  body  of  a  living 
soul.  Hence  he  became  and  is  more  than  a  poet.  He  is  a  prophet, 
a  seer.     Realizing  all  this,  Matthew  Arnold  said  of  him: 

"  Time  may  restore  us,  in  his  course, 
Goethe's  sage  mind  and  Byron's  force ; 
Rut  when  shall  Europe's  latter  hour 
Again  find  Wordsworth's  healing  power?  " 

This  is  a  precise  and  illuminating  statement  of  the  influence  which 
his  poetry  has  had.    To  the  casual  reader  he  is  likely,  in  consequence 
of  his  lack  of  humor  and  of  dramatic  power,  to  appear  unattractive. 
3£8 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  329 

It  is  only  after  patient  study  that  the  beauty  and  dijD^nity  of  his  poems 
are  revealed.     He  is  like  the  poet  whom  he  himself  describes: 

"  He   is   retired   as   noontide   dew, 
Or  fountain  in  a  shady  grove, 
And  you  must  love  him,  ere  to  you 
He  will  seem  worthy  of  your  love." 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH 

1770 — 1850 
From  the   portrait   by    Pickersgill 


But,  once  known  and  understood,  the  poems  of  William  Wordsworth 
are  a  priceless  and  permanent  possession. 

He  was  bom  at  Cockermouth  in  Cumberland,  April  7,  1770,  the 


330  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

second  son  of  John  Wordsworth,  attorney-at-law  and  law  agent  to 
Sir  James  Lowther,  afterwards  Earl  of  Lonsdale.  This  nobleman, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  he  borrowed  practically  all  of  John  Words- 
worth's fortune  and  refused  to  pay  it  back,  now  possesses  a  secure 
place  in  the  annals  of  English  literature.  The  poet's  mother  was 
Anne,  only  daughter  of  William  Cookson,  mercer,  of  Penrith.  William 
was  the  second  of  five  children.  Richard,  the  eldest,  became  a  suc- 
cessful lawyer.  Dorothy,  the  third,  described  by  Coleridge  as  his 
"  exquisite  sister,"  was  a  woman  of  great  intellectual  and  spiritual 
gifts.  John,  the  fourth,  was  a  sea  captain.  Christopher,  the  young- 
est, took  orders  and  rose  to  be  master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

The  poet's  mother  died  1778  in  consequence  of  a  cold  contracted 
by  sleeping  in  the  "  best  bedroom  "  of  a  London  friend.  His  father 
survived  her  five  years.  The  care  and  education  of  the  children  were 
therefore  assumed  by  uncles,  who  proved  worthy  of  the  privilege. 

William's  infancy  and  boyhood  were  passed  partly  at  Cocker- 
mouth  and  partly  at  Penrith.  His  disposition  in  these  early  years 
was  so  stiff,  moody,  and  violent  that  his  mother  said  he  was  the  only 
one  of  her  five  children  about  whose  future  she  was  anxious.  He, 
she  added,  would  be  remarkable  either  for  good  or  for  evil.  Once,  after 
being  punished,  he  went  into  the  attic  with  the  intention  of  destroying 
himself  with  a  foil.  He  took  it  in  hand,  but  his  heart  failed.  On 
another  occasion,  in  a  spirit  of  braggadocio,  he  ruine&  the  portrait 
of  one  of  his  female  ancestors  by  striking  through  itWith  a  whip. 

This  violence  of  temper  was  somewhat  mollified  by  the  gentleness 
of  Dorothy,  who  speedily  became  his  inseparable  companion.  His 
"  Poems  Referring  to  the  Period  of  Childhood  "  contain  some  im- 
perishable records  of  the  influence  she  had  on  him.  In  "  The 
Sparrow's  Nest  "  he  says: 

"  She  gave  me  eyes,  she  gave  me  ears : 
And  humble  cares,  and  delicate  fears ; 
A  heart,  the  fountain  of  sweet  tears ; 
And  love,  and  thought,  and  joy." 

In  "  To  a  Butterfly  "  he  thus  contrasts  her  gentleness  with  his  own 
impetuosity: 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  331 

"  Oh  !  pleasant,  pleasant  were  the  days, 
The  time,  when  in  our  childish  plays, 
My  sister  Emmeline  and  I 
Together  chased  the  butterfly. 

A  very  hunter  did  I  rush 
Upon  the  prey : — with  leaps  and  springs 

I  followed  on  from  brake  to  bush  ; 

But  she,  God  love  her  !  feared  to  brush 
The  dust  from  off  its  wings." 

The  power  of  the  lovely  scenery  in  which  he  grew  up  was  also  at 

work  before  long  upon  his  fiery  temper.     Long  afterward  he  wrote: 

"  My  heart  leaps  up  when  I  behold 
A  rainljow   in   the   sky ; 

So  was  it  when  my  life  began ; 
So  is  it  now  I  am  a  man  ; 
So  be  it  when  I  shall  grow  old, 
Or  let  me  die ! 
The  Child  is  Father  of  the  Man; 
And  I  could  wish  my  days  to  be 
Bound  each  to  each  by  natural  piety." 

His  earliest  school  days  were  profitable,  because  his  teacher,  an 
old  dame  of  Penrith,  had  never  heard  of  modern  pedagogy,  and  hence 
thought  it  no  crime  to  train  the  memory  of  her  pupils  by  making  them 
learn  by  rote.  In  her  school  he  sat  by  a  little  girl  named  Mary 
Hutschison,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  anon.  At  Hawkshead 
School,  whither  he  was  transferred  in  his  ninth  year,  he  was  happy 
because  he  was  left  at  liberty  to  read  Fielding,  "  Don  Quixote,"  "  Gil 
Bias,"  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  and  "  The  Tale  of  a  Tub."  The  first 
verses  that  he  ever  wrote  were  a  task  imposed  by  his  master  here. 
The  subject  was  ''  The  Summer  Vacation,"  and  of  his  own  accord  he 
added  others  on  "  Return  to  School."  They  were  almost  as  bad  as 
such  compositions  usually  are,  but  nevertheless  in  1785  he  was  called 
upon  to  celebrate  in  verse  the  second  centenary  of  the  founding  of  the 
school,  and  responded  with  an  imitation  of  Pope,  which,  having  all 
of  Pope's  faults  and  none  of  his  merits,  was  much  admired  and 
praised.  Like  many  other  boys  he  found  more  sympathy  and  inspira- 
tion in  the  masters  of  this  humble  school  than  later  among  his  uni- 
versity professors;  of  one  of  them  at  least,  whom  he  calls  Matthew, 
he  has  left  some  verses  which  any  teacher  might  be  proud  to  have 
inspired.  Yet  Wordsworth  was  a  perfectly  normal  boy.  It  was  his 
habit  to  walk  five  miles  around  the  Lake  of  Esthwaite  before  school 


33i  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

hours;  in  the  winter  evenings  he  and  his  comrades  all  shod  with  steel 
hissed  alon<jj  the  polished  ice  in  games  confederate;  and  on  holidays 
fishing  and  hunting  were  his  games.    He  wrote 

"  Nothing  at  that  time 
So  welcome,  no  temptation  half  so  dear, 
As  that  which  ursed  me  to  a  daring  feat : 
Deep  pools,  tall  trees,  hlack  chasms,  and  dizzy  crags, 
And  tottering  towers — I  loved  to  stand  and  read 
Their  looks." 

From  Esthwaite  he  was  transplanted  in  October,  1787,  to  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge.  The  flatness  of  the  Cambridge  fens 
and  the  severity  of  the  Cambridge  discipline  were  in  marked  contrast 
to  the  hilly  lake  country  and  the  freedom  which  he  had  left.  Though 
inferior  in  scholastic  attainments  to  most  of  his  fellow  students,  he 
was  already  superior  in  spiritual  growth  to  many  of  his  instructors. 
His  residence  at  Cambridge  was  therefore  not  as  profitable  as  it 
should  have  been.  Though  he  found  welcome  companionship  among 
his  fellow  students,  sauntered,  played,  and  rioted  with  them,  read 
lazily  in  trivial  books,  galloped  through  the  country  in  blind  zeal  of 
senseless  horsemanship,  and  felt  the  inspiration  that  comes  to  all  who 
dwell  in  that  garden  of  great  intellects  where  grew  Newton,  Spenser, 
and  ^lilton — the  glory  of  lecture  and  examination  was  little  sought 
by  him  and  little  won.  He  felt  that  he  was  not  for  that  hour  or  for 
that  place.  And,  when  his  first  long  vacation  came,  he  escaped  with 
a  feeling  akin  to  exultation  back  to  his  native  hills. 

There  he  sauntered  like  a  river  murmuring  and  talking  to  itself. 
There  perfect  joy  of  heart  returned  to  him  like  a  returning  spring. 
There  he  exclaimed: 

"  When  from  our  better  selves  we  have  too  long 
Been  parted  by  the  hurrying  world,  and  droop, 
Sick  of  its  business,  of  its  pleasures  tired, 
How  gracious,  how  benign,  is  Solitude !  " 

And  there,  finally,  his  purpose  in  life  was  definitely  revealed  to  him 

and  he  was  happy.     "  To  the  brim,"  he  wrote  afterwards, 

"  My  heart  was  full ;  I  made  no  vows,  but  vows 
Were  then  made  for  me  ;  bond  unknown  to  me 
Was  given,  tiiat  I  should  be,  else  sinning  greatly, 
A  dedicated  Spirit.     On  I  walked 
In  thankful  blessedness,  which  yet  survives." 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  333 

To  him  the  joy  of  this  moment  seemed  another  morn  risen  on  mid- 
noon.  He  went  back  to  Cambridge  possessed  with  the  idea  that  he 
might  leave  behind  him  some  monument  which  pure  hearts  should  rev- 
erence. There  he  plunged  into  the  study  of  geometry,  finding  in  its 
abstractions  a  corrective  for  the  imaginative  power  of  poetry.  When 
summer  came  again,  he  gladly  exchanged  what  he  called  the  luxurious 
indolence  of  college  life  for  tramps  about  England,  in  which  he  made 
quest  for  works  of  art  and  scenes  renowned  for  beauty.  In  his  third 
long  vacation,  with  a  friend  named  Jones,  in  hardy  slight  of  college 
studies  and  their  set  rewards,  he  made  a  pedestrian  tour  of  fourteen 
weeks  to  the  Alps.  The  French  Revolution  had  just  begun.  They 
landed  at  Calais  on  the  very  day  when  the  king  took  the  oath  of 
fidelity  to  the  new  constitution.  Everywhere  as  they  journeyed  south 
they  found  benevolence  and  blessedness  spread  like  a  fragrance,  when 
spring  has  left  no  corner  of  the  land  untouched.  From  hill  to  vale 
they  dropped ;  from  vale  to  hill  mounted ;  from  province  on  to  province 
swept;  beheld  Mont  Blanc;  and  crossed  the  Simplon  Pass  into 
Italy.  To  Wordsworth  the  immeasurable  height  of  woods  decaying, 
never  to  be  decayed,  the  stationary  blasts  of  waterfalls,  the  thwarting 
winds,  the  torrents  shooting  from  the  clear  blue  sky,  tumult  and  peace, 
the  darkness  and  the  light — were  all  like  workings  of  one  mind.  In 
Italy  he  was  impressed  with  the  garden  plots  of  Indian  com  tended  by 
dark-eyed  maids.  The  travellers  left  the  Swiss  rejoicing  in  the 
emancipation  of  France,  crossed  the  Brabant  armies  on  the  fret  for 
battle  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  went  back  to  Cambridge,  where  in 
January,  1791,  Wordsworth  took  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 

After  graduation,  disregarding  the  wish  of  his  guardians  that  he 
should  take  Holy  Orders,  he  loafed  for  four  months  in  London,  which 
had  had  for  him  all  of  the  wonder  and  obscure  delight  of  golden  cities 
ten  months'  journey  deep  among  Tartarian  wilds.  His  illusions  were 
soon  dispelled.  He  heard  Burke  speak;  attended  religious  ser\aces 
conducted  by  a  comely  bachelor,  fresh  from  a  toilette  of  two  hours, 
who  stole  his  ideas  from  Ossian;  heard  for  the  first  time  a  woman 
swear;  beheld  one  of  those  parliaments  of  monsters  which  we  in 
America  call  a  dime  museum;  and  half  despised  yet  understood  it  all. 
Then,  after  a  short  pedestrian  tour  in  Wales,  he  returned  alone  in 
November,  1791,  to  France. 


T^'-r.  ■"s;t 


jTTas 


It  -eananeaiiiiiff  tftt 

-  ~7^-rri*ui.PiMiM 


.     .  .  -.    -L^;_  „ „^^-_  —      .     -jss.  jrits 


-US  iwTi  ffJEe-  Tninrrv   'ise  senntL  -£  5.  _t!cunj_  ie  "n«=-  jriivets  hl  ice 

.-.^      — _:      —      ^  ..    ....       .„.   _  ^:^.:^  tce^  ae 

T!jKKisiiBCiiL'±ie3L3t  nEcEEr  "wnciiE:  airnnr  JCo&ci. 

.rji'  aim  X  "VSES 

- ~      -  —  ._    ..—      _-i£r  Z>2SEnnriye 

acrpaaet  "ioe  ituiruinn:  te  Trot  '■rrnriK  tessl  'wrsa  istt  -sjtESKt 


a.nve-  rlntr  litKarr  BBPcrcoiiL  mnrr- 


.VQiron.  tut  iinwn:  rm 


-     am.  jfee 


iierC  leaBrinc 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  335 

husbanded,  left  Wordsworth  free  to  devote  himself  to  poetry.  Upon 
this  sum  he  and  his  sister  contrived  to  exist  until  the  death  of  Lord 
Lonsdale  in  1801  enabled  his  successor,  Lord  Lowther,  to  repay  them 
the  loans  made  to  him  by  John  Wordsworth.  Wordsworth's  grati- 
tude to  Calvert  is  recorded  in  one  of  his  finest  sonnets. 

In  the  autumn  of  1795  we  accordingly  find  William  and  Dorothy 
settled  at  Racedown  Lodge,  near  Crewkeme,  in  Dorsetshire.  The 
place  was  very  retired,  with  little  society  and  a  post  only  once  a  week. 
Here  they  employed  themselves  industriously  in  reading,  writing,  and 
gardening.  Here  Wordsworth  wrote  a  tragedy  in  the  style  of  Shake- 
speare called  "  The  Borderers  "  and  hither  in  June,  1797,  came  Samuel 
Taylor  Coleridge  with  his  own  tragedy  of  "  Osorio."  It  was  a  case  of 
love  at  first  sight  all  round.  Dorothy  at  once  pronounced  Coleridge 
a  wonderful  man.  Coleridge  immediately  perceived  Wordsworth's 
genius  and  described  Dorothy  as  his  exquisite  sister;  and  within  a 
month  the  Wordsworths  moved  to  Nether-Stowey  in  Dorsetshire  in 
order  to  be  near  Coleridge. 

Here,  all  the  ensuing  summer,  the  two  poets  roved  upon  smooth 
Quantock's  airy  ridge,  composing  immortal  verse — Coleridge,  "  The 
Ancient  Mariner"  and  "  Cristabel ";  Wordsworth,  among  other 
pieces,  "  We  are  Seven,"  "  Lines  Written  in  Early  Spring,"  "  Expostu- 
lation and  Reply,"  "  The  Tables  Turned,"  and  "  Lines  Written  a 
few  Miles  above  Tintem  Abbey."  These  were  published  by  Amos 
Cottle  of  Bristol,  in  the  autumn  of  1798,  in  a  volume  of  210  pages, 
under  the  title  of  "  Lyrical  Ballads."  The  edition  consisted  of  only 
500  copies,  but  its  sale  was  so  slow  and  the  reviews  so  severe  that 
the  copyright  was  considered  valueless  and  returned  to  the  authors. 

The  volume  which  was  ushered  into  the  world  under  these  dis- 
couraging circumstances  is  now  justly  considered  the  most  precious 
contribution  made  during  the  eighteenth  century  to  English  poetry. 
The  aim  of  the  authors  had  been,  first,  to  excite  the  sympathy  of 
readers  by  a  faithful  adherence  to  the  truth  of  nature,  and,  second, 
to  give  to  that  truth  the  interest  of  novelty  by  the  modifying  colors 
of  the  imagination.  Coleridge  in  "  The  Ancient  Mariner  "  had  under- 
taken to  invest  a  supernatural  theme  with  such  truth  that  readers 
would  feel  it  to  be  natural;  Wordsworth  in  his  poems,  on  the  other 


3.i6  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

hand,  had  tried  to  give  the  charm  of  poetry  to  common  things  by 
directing  attention  to  the  unseen  loveliness  that  lies  about  us  in  every- 
day life.  Coleridge,  to  put  the  matter  in  Dr.  Johnson's  way,  had 
undertaken  to  make  new  things  familiar,  while  Wordsworth's  effort 
had  been  to  make  familiar  things  new.  While  Coleridge  had  suc- 
ceeded perfectly  in  his  effort,  and  Wordsworth  in  most  of  his  pieces 
had  attained  conspicuous  success,  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  at 
once  impressed  the  reading  public.  Aristocrats  nurtured  on  Pope 
did  not  care  for  ballads  modelled  on  the  folk-songs  of  the  fifteenth 
century  or  for  poems  written  in  common  language  about  common 
people.  And  some  of  Wordsworth's  language,  it  must  be  confessed, 
was  so  common  that  it  failed  to  make  familiar  things  poetical.  Two 
stanzas  in  particular  excited  much  ridicule: 

"  And  to  the  left,  three  yards  beyond, 
You  see  a  muddy  little  pond 

Of  water,  never  dry; 
I've  measured  it  from  side  to  side, 
'Tis  three  feet  long  and  two  feet  wide." 

"  A  household  tub.  like  one  of  those 
Which  women  use  to  wash  their  clothes. 
This  carried  the  Blind  Boy." 

Wordsworth  himself  saw  the  fault  and  the  Blind  Boy  now  sets  sail 
in  a  very  different  vessel,  but  a  new  generation  of  readers  had  to 
grow  up  before  "  The  Lyrical  Ballads  "  came  into  their  own. 

Fortunately  Wordsworth  was  made  of  stern  stuff.  The  public 
indifference  neither  frightened  nor  discouraged  him.  Feeling  that 
it  is  the  province  of  a  great  poet  to  raise  people  up  to  his  own  level 
and  not  to  descend  to  theirs,  he  went  in  the  autumn  of  1798  with 
Dorothy  and  Coleridge  to  Germany;  met  at  Hamburg  the  poet 
Klopstock;  argued  with  him  about  Wieland,  Goethe,  and  Kant; 
and  proceeded  to  Goslar,  where  throughout  the  winter  he  avoided 
society,  froze,  and  wrote  imperishable  verse.  Of  the  pieces  that  he 
then  and  there  composed  every  student  should  read  at  least  "  I 
travelled  among  unknown  men,"  "  She  dwelt  among  the  untrodden 
ways,"  "  Strange  fits  of  passion  have  I  known,"  "  Three  years  she 
grew  in  sun  and  shower,"  "  A  slumber  did  my  spirit  seal,"  "  A  Poet's 
Epitaph,"  "  Lucy  Gray,"  "  The  Two  April  Mornings,"  "  The  Foun- 
tain," and  "  Nutting."     Here,  too,  he  began  an  autobiography  in 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  337 

blank  verse  entitled  "  The  Prelude,"  or  "  The  Growth  of  a  Poet's 
Mind."  Finally  completed  in  fourteen  books  in  1805,  it  was  not 
published  until  after  his  death  in  1850. 

The  Poet  Gray  had  visited  Grasmere  in  1769  and  described  it  as 
a  little  unsuspected  Paradise.  Here,  on  their  return  from  Germany, 
Wordsworth  and  his  sister  settled,  and  here  for  the  next  eight  years 
they  lived.  The  first  edition  of  "  Lyrical  Ballads  "  being  finally 
exhausted,  he  now  prepared  a  second,  in  two  volumes,  of  which  the 
first  was  a  reprint  of  the  first  edition,  while  the  second  contained  the 
poems  written  in  Germany,  together  with  some  others,  notably 
"  Hartleap  Well,"  "  The  Idle  Shepherd  Boys,"  "  Poor  Susan,"  "  Rural 
Architecture,"  and  "  Michael,  a  Pastoral."  For  tJiis  priceless  offer- 
ing of  song  he  received  100  pounds.  Its  reception  was  a  strange 
mixture  of  censure  and  approval.  One  critic  pronounced  it  worth  its 
weight  in  gold.  Another  could  make  neither  head  nor  tail  of  it.  In 
a  third  it  excited  only  feelings  of  disgust.  A  fourth  was  filled  with 
delight.    A  second  edition  was  required  1802  and  a  third  1805. 

Meantime  at  Grasmere  the  days  passed  in  wonderful  walks,  in  the 
still  more  wonderful  companionship  of  Coleridge  and  Dorothy,  and 
in  the  unhampered  exercise  of  the  poet's  high  art.  A  few  extracts  from 
Dorothy's  diary  for  1802  will  show  the  manner  of  their  life: 

Friday:  W.  wrote  "  Alice  Fell." 

May  7:  W.  wrote  "  The  Leech  Gatherer." 

June  17:  W.  added  to  the  "  Ode  "  he  is  writing. 

In  July  they  made  a  brief  excursion  to  France.  As  they  left 
London  on  the  top  of  the  Dover  coach  Wordsworth  wrote  his  ''  Sonnet 
on  Westminster  Bridge."  Three  poems  of  this  period  should  become 
a  part  of  every  student's  mind.  He  is  advised  to  copy  them  into  his 
note-book  and  to  learn  them  by  heart.  They  are  "  The  Daffodils," 
"  The  Cock  is  Crowing,"  and  "  The  Ode  on  Immortality."  The  two 
best  lines  of  the  first, 

"  They  flash  upon  that  inward  eye 
Which  is  the  bliss  of  solitude," 

were  written  by  Dorothy.     The  second  was  deservedly  a  favorite 
22 


338  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

with  Joanna  Baillie.  The  third  was  considered  by  Ralph  Waldo 
Kmerson  the  greatest  poem  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Wordsworth  .seldom  wrote  letters.  In  one  of  this  period  he  says 
he  has  not  written  five  letters  of  friendship  during  the  last  five  years. 
Then  he  proceeds  to  answer  a  charge  that  "  The  Idiot  Boy  "  is  not  a 
tit  subject  for  poetry,  as  it  does  not  please,  with  the  question,  "  Does 
not  please  whom?  "  His  poetry,  he  explains,  is  meant  to  please,  not 
the  people  of  high  rank,  but  those  who  live  in  cottages.  Among  these, 
he  points  out,  idiots  are  considered  a  blessing  to  the  families  to  whom 
they  belong,  as  their  life  is  hidden  with  God.  "  It  is  not  enough 
for  me  as  a  poet,"  he  adds,  "  to  delineate  such  feelings  as  all  men 
do  sympathize  with;  but  it  is  aL'o  highly  desirable  to  add  to  these 
others,  such  as  all  men  may  sympathize  with,  and  such  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  they  would  be  better  and  more  moral  beings  if  they 
did  sympathize  with." 

On  Monday,  October  4,  1802,  Wordsworth  was  married  to  Mary 
Hutschison,  with  whom  he  had  sat  as  a  child  in  the  school  at  Penrith. 
It  was  a  wonderful  union  and  is  wonderfully  commemorated  in  his 
verse.  In  the  third  year  of  their  married  life  he  wrote  probably  the 
finest  poem  ever  addressed  by  a  husband  to  his  wife: 

"  She  was  a  phantom  of  delight 
When  first  she  gleamed  upon  my  sight; 
A  lovely  apparition,  sent 
To  be  a  moment's  ornament ; 
Her  eyes  as  stars  of  twilight  fair; 
Like  twilight's,  too,  her  dusky  hair; 
But  all  things  else  about  her  drawn 
From  May-time  and  the  cheerful  dawn; 
A  haunting  shape,  an  image  gay, 
To  haunt,  to  startle,  and  waylay. 

"  I  saw  her,  upon  nearer  view, 
A  spirit,  yet  a  woman,  too  ! 
Her  household  motions  light  and  free 
And  steps  of  virgin  liberty ; 
A  countenance  in  which  did  meet 
Sweet  records,  promises  as  sweet; 
A  creature  not  too  bright  or  good 
For  human  nature  daily  food  ; 
For  transient  sorrows,  simple   wiles. 
Praise,  blame,  love,  kisses,  tears,  and  smiles. 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  339 

"  And  now  I  see  with  eye  serene 
The  very  pulse  of  the  machine, 
A  being  breathing  thoughtful  breath, 
A  traveller  between   life  and   death; 
The  reason  firm,  the  temperate  will, 
Endurance,  foresight,  strength,  and  skill ; 
A  perfect  woman,  nobly  planned. 
To  warn,  to  comfort,  and  command; 
And  yet  a  spirit  still,  and  bright 
With  something  of  angelic  light." 

Important  poetical  results  also  flowed  from  a  tour  which  Words- 
worth made  in  Scotland  in  1803  with  his  sister.  They  were  away 
from  home  from  August  14  until  September  25;  and  visited,  among 
other  places,  Burns's  grave  at  Dumfries,  Loch  Lomond,  Rob  Roy's 
Caves,  the  Inversneid  Waterfall,  Loch  Katrine,  the  Isle  of  Mull,  the 
Falls  of  Bruar,  the  Pass  of  Killiecrankie,  Edinburgh,  Melrose,  Dry- 
burgh,  and  Carlisle.  Dorothy's  diary  of  the  journey  is  in  itself  a 
classic.  Among  the  poems  in  which  their  experiences  were  commemo- 
rated by  William  are  "To  the  Sons  of  Burns,"  "The  Highland 
Girl,"  "  Rob  Roy's  Grave,"  "  Stepping  Westward,"  "  The  Solitary 
Reaper,"  and  "Yarrow  Unvisited."  The  student  should  read  them  all. 

Scarcely  less  important  as  a  source  of  inspiration  was  an  intimacy 
which  Wordsworth  formed  in  this  same  year  with  Sir  George  Beau- 
mont and  which  continued  until  the  latter's  death  in  1827.  Before 
the  two  met.  Sir  George  had  perceived  Wordsworth's  genius  and  had 
bought  for  him  a  beautiful  spot  near  Keswick,  where  Coleridge  and 
Southey  lived,  hoping  thus  to  bring  the  three  poets  together.  Words- 
worth acknowledged  the  gift  in  a  fine  sonnet,  but  the  design  was  not 
fulfilled,  Coleridge  being  forced  to  go  for  his  health  to  a  warmer 
climate.  At  this  time  Wordsworth  himself  could  not  hold  a  pen  five 
minutes  without  having  a  perspiration  start  out  all  over  him  and 
being  strangely  oppressed  in  the  chest.  The  long  letters  he  wrote 
to  Sir  George  are  therefore  a  mark  of  great  affection.  In  one  of  them 
we  find  that  the  poet  had  enlisted  to  fight  Xapoleon.  Sir  George 
was  an  excellent  painter  and  depicted  with  skill  scenes  from  "  The 
Thorn,"  "  The  White  Doe  of  Rylstone,"  "  Peter  Bell,"  and  "  Lucy 
Gray,"  while  the  poet,  in  his  verses  on  the  picture  of  "  Peele  Castle  in 
a  Storm,"  painted  by  Sir  George,  gave  his  friend  more  fame  than  his 


340  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

own  pictures  ever  brought  him.     When  Sir  George  died  he  left  Words- 
worth a  hundred  pounds  a  year  for  an  annual  tour. 

John  Wordsworth,  the  sea  captain,  was  also  in  these  times  a  prop 
to  his  brother's  courage.  William  called  him  a  silent  poet,  and  he  in 
turn  was  not  unappreciative  of  William's  high  desert.  In  1804  he 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Abergavenny  East-Indiaman, 
1500  tons  burden,  bound  for  India  and  China  with  70,000  pounds  in 
specie,  a  cargo  worth  200,000  pounds,  and  402  persons.  Off  the  Bill 
of  Portland,  owing  to  the  incompetence  of  a  pilot,  the  ship  struck  a 
rock  and  sank  with  most  on  board,  including  her  captain.  The  poet's 
great  and  abiding  grief  on  account  of  this  tragedy  is  preserved  in 
the  poem  on  Peele  Castle,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  and 
John  Wordsworth's  portrait  stands  fixed  for  all  to  read  forever  in 
•'  The  Character  of  the  Happy  Warrior,"  which  is  one  of  his  brother's 
noblest  poems. 

In  his  sorrow  Wordsworth  sought  relief  in  hard  work.  He  com- 
pleted the  "  Prelude  "  1806  and  put  forth  two  fresh  volumes  of  shorter 
poems  1807.  Among  these  the  most  noteworthy  were,  in  addition 
to  the  pieces  already  mentioned  as  having  been  written  between  1801 
and  1807,  "  To  a  Daisy,"  "  To  the  Small  Celandine,"  "  To  a  Sky- 
lark," and  numerous  sonnets.  Like  their  predecessors,  these  volumes 
contained  enough  great  verse  to  have  made  the  reputations  of  a  dozen 
poets,  but,  also  like  them,  they  had  to  create  their  public.  The  great 
critics  were  now  actively  hostile  because,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
Wordsworth's  earlier  poems  would  not  die,  their  judgment  had  been 
proved  wrong.  Sorely  tried  but  with  courage  unshaken  by  adversity, 
he  still  adhered,  however,  like  his  great  predecessor  Milton,  to  his 
own  high  purposes. 

In  this  resolve  he  was  helped  by  a  steady  though  small  demand 
for  his  poems,  by  the  stanch  friendship  of  Sir  George  Beaumont,  and 
by  his  appointment  in  1813  to  be  distributer  of  stamps  for  Westmore- 
land. This  position  raised  his  income  to  an  easy  competency  and 
freed  him  from  private  cares  without  oppressing  him  with  public  ones. 
Meantime  in  1811  he  had  removed  from  Grasmere  to  Rydal  Mount, 
where  he  lived  until  his  death.  Here  in  1814  he  completed  a  poem  in 
nine  books  of  blank  verse  entitled  "  The  Excursion." 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  Ml 

After  its  publication  he  had  need  of  all  his  courage.  The  leading 
reviewers  doomed  it  to  oblivion.  The  first  edition,  which  consisted 
of  only  500  copies,  satisfied  the  public  demand  for  six  years.  A 
second,  also  of  500  copies,  published  1827,  lasted  until  1834.  In  the 
face  of  this  neglect  Wordsworth  wrote  to  Southey:  "  Let  the  age  con- 
tinue to  love  its  own  darkness;  I  shall  continue  to  write  with,  I  trust, 
the  light  of  Heaven  upon  me."  A  certain  celebrated  critic  had 
boasted  that  he  had  crushed  "  The  Excursion."  Of  him  Southey  said: 
"  He  crush  the  '  Excursion  '!  Tell  him  he  might  as  well  fancy  that 
he  could  crush  Skiddaw." 

If  he  could  not  crush  Wordsworth,  however,  it  is  altogether  prob- 
able that  he  succeeded  to  some  extent  in  drying  up  the  sources  of  his 
inspiration.  At  all  events,  after  1814  his  literary  activity  declined. 
The  great  poems  that  he  wrote  during  the  remaining  36  years  of  his 
life  can  be  numbered  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  He  lived  as  he  had 
lived  before,  walked,  travelled,  mused,  and  read,  but  his  significance 
as  a  bard  was  gone.  In  proportion  as  his  poetic  power  declined, 
however,  his  reputation  increased.  In  1839  Oxford  honored  him 
with  the  degree  of  D.C.L.  Four  years  later  the  Queen  made  him 
Poet  Laureate.  During  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  he  was 
lionized  by  society  and  acknowledged  by  all  competent  judges 
to  be  the  greatest  living  English  poet.  And  when,  in  1850,  he  had 
passed  away,  Tennyson,  who  succeeded  him  as  Laureate,  received  the 
crown  in  two  lines  that  fittingly  describe  Wordsworth's  work,  when 
he  spoke  of  having  received  the  laurel 

"  Greener  from  the  brows 
Of   him   who   uttered   nothing  base." 

It  is  impossible  to  read  a  page  anywhere  in  Wordsworth  without 
lighting  upon  some  happy  phrase  or  sentence.  To  search  for  these 
and  find  them  is  a  profitable  and  a  pleasant  if  not  an  exciting  pastime. 
For  the  purpose  of  stimulating  this  quest  a  few  of  these  gems  are  pre- 
sented h€re.  The  student  must  remember,  however,  that  they  form 
only  a  small  proportion  of  those  which  are  worth  knowing: 

"  How  motionless  ! — not  frozen  seas 
More  motionless  !  " 

To  a  Butterfly. 
"The  beetle  panoplied  in  gfems  of  gold, 
A  mailed  angel  on  a  battle  day." 

In  Thomson's  Castle  of  Indolence. 


342  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  The  cock  is  crowing, 
The  stream  is  tlowing, 
Tlie  small  liirds  twitter. 
The  lake  doth  glitter, 
The  green  field  sleeps  in  the  sun ; 
The  oldest  and  ymmgest 
Are  at  work  with  the  strongest; 
The  cattle  are  grazing, 
Their  heads  never  raising ; 
There  are  forty  feeding  like  one  !  " 

JVrittcn  in  March. 
"  One  lesson.  Shepherd,  let  us  two  divide. 

Taught  both  by  what  she  (Nature)  shows  and  what  conceals. 
Never  to  blend  our  pleasure  or  our  pride 

With  sorrow  of  the  meanest  thing  that  feels." 

Hart-Leap   Well. 
"  That  best  portion  of  a  good  man's  life. 
His  little  nameless  unremembered  acts 
Of  kindness  and  of   love." 

Tintern  Abbey. 
"The  still  sad  music  of  humanity."  Ibid. 

"  Nature  never  did  betray 
The  heart  that  loved  her."  Ibid. 

"  The  Gods  approve 
The  depth  and  not  the  tumult  of  the  soul." 

Laodamia. 
"  Klysian  beauty,  melancholy  grace."  Ibid. 

"  .-\n  ampler  ether,  a  diviner  air, 
.•\.nd  fields  invested  with  purpureal  gleams."  Ibid. 

"  A  primrose  by  a  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him, 
And  it  was  nothing  more."  Peter  Bell. 

"  Only  the  Ass,  with  motion  dull, 
Upon  the  pivot  of  his  skull 
Turns  round  his  long  left  ear."  Ibid. 

"  Nuns  fret  not  at  their  convent's  narrow  room, 
And  hermits  are  contented  with  their  cells." 

Somjet. 
"  Pelion  and  Ossa  flourish  side  by  side. 
Together  in  immortal  books  enrolled.'' 

Sonnet. 
"  The  appropriate  calm  of  blest  eternity."  Sonnet. 

"  It  is  a  beauteous  evening,  calm  and  free ; 
The  holy  time  is  quiet  as  a  nun 
Breathless  with  adoration." 


'The  world  is  too  much  with  us:  late  and  soon. 
Getting  and  spending,  we  lay  waste  our  powers." 


Sonnet. 
Sonnet. 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  343 


'Soft  is  the  music  that  would  charm  forever; 
The  Hower  of  sweetest  smell  is  shy  and  lowly." 

Earth  has  not  anything  to  show  more  fair." 

How  does  the  Meadow- flower  its  bloom  unfold? 

Because  the  lovely  little  flower  is  free 
Down  to  its  root  and  in  that  freedom  bold ; 

And  so  the  grandeur  of  the  Forest-tree 
Comes  not  by  casting  in  a  formal  mould, 

But  from  its  own  divine  vitality." 

The  liest  of  what  wc  do  and  are, 
Just  Ciod,  forgive  !  " 


Sounet. 
Sonnet. 


Sonnet. 
On  Burns. 


"  Will  no  one  tell  me  what  she  sings? 
Perhaps  the  plaintive  numbers  flow 
From  old  unhappy  far-off  things 
And  battles  long  ago." 

The  Solitary  Reaper. 
"  The  good  old   rule 
Sufficeth  them,  the  simple  plan, 
That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power 
And  they  should  keep  who  can." 

Rob  Roy's  Grave. 
"  I  grieved  for  Bonaparte,  with  a  vain 

And  an  unthinking  grief  !     TTie  tenderest  mood 
Of  that  man's  mind — what  can  it  be?     What  food 
Fed  his  first  hopes?     What  knowledge  can  he  gain?  " 

Sonnet. 
"  Two  voices  are  there ;  one  is  of  the  sea. 

One  of  the  mountains  ;  each  a  mighty  Voice. 
In  both  from  age  to  age  thou  didst  rejoice; 
They  were  thy  chosen  music.   Liberty  !  " 

England  and  Sivitzcrland. 
"  Plain  living  and  high  thinking  are  no  more  : 
The  homely  beauty  of  the  good  old  cause 
Is  gone  !  our  peace,  our  fearful  innocence. 
And  pure  religion  breathing  household  laws." 


"  We  must  be  free  or  die,  who  speak  the  tongue 
That  Shakespeare  spake,  the  faith  and  morals  hold 
Which  Milton  held." 

''  Every  gift  of  noble  origin 
Is  breathed  upon  by  Hope's  perpetual  breath." 


Sonnet. 

Sonnet. 
Sonnet. 


"Turning,  for  them  who  pass,  the  common  dust 
Of  servile  opportunity  to  gold." 

Desultory  Stancas. 

"  Like  thoughts  whose  very  sweetness  yieldeth  proof 
That  they  were  made  for  immortality." 

Sonnet. 


344  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  One   impulse    from   a   vernal   wood 
May  teach  you  more  of  man, 
Of  moral  evil  and  of  good 

Than  all  the  sages  can.  ^,      n-  ur      ^         a 

The  Tables  Turned. 

"  And  't  is  my  faith  that  every  flower 
Enjoys  the  air  it  breathes." 

'  ^  In  Early  Spring. 

"  The  gleam, 
The  light  that  never  was  on  land  or  sea. 
The  consecration  and  the  poet's  dream." 

Elegiac  Stanzas. 

"  Not  without  hope  we  suffer  and  we  mourn." 

Ibid. 

"  There  was  a  time  when  meadow,  grove,  and  stream,- 
The  earth,  and  every  common  sight, 

To  me  did  seem 
Apparelled  in  celestial  light, 
The  glory  and  the  freshness  of  a  dream. 
It  is  not  now  as  it  hath  been  of  yore  ;— 
Turn  wheresoe'er  I  may, 

By  night  or  day,  ^^ 

The  things  which  I  have  seen  I  now  can  see  no  more. 

Ode  on  Immortality. 

"  Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting : 
The  sr>ul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star, 

Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting 
And  cometh   from  afar: 

Not  in  entire  forgetfulness, 

And  not  in  utter  nakedness. 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 

From  God,  who  is  our  home : 
Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy  ! 
Shades  of  the  prison  house  begin  to  close 

Upon   the   growing  boy. 


At  length  the  man  perceives  it  die  away. 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day." 

"  The  thought  of  our  past  years  in  me  doth  breed 
Perpetual  benediction." 

"  In  years  that  bring  the  philosophic  mind." 

"To  me  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  can  give^^ 
Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears." 

"  The   good    die   young 
And  thev  whose  hearts  are  dry  as  summer  dust 
Burn  to'  the  socket."  The  Excursion. 


Ibid. 

Ibid. 
Ibid. 

Ibid. 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  345 

"  Wisdom  is  oft-times  nearer  when  we  stoop 
Than  when  we  soar." 

The  Excursion. 
"  Pan  himself, 
The  simple  shepherd's  awe-inspiring  god." 

Ibid. 
"  Central  peace,  subsisting  at  the  heart 
Of  endless  agitation."  Ibid. 

There  is  only  one  way  to  study  Wordsworth.  He  confided  his 
secrets  to  his  lyre.  To  it  he  communicated  his  feelings  and  his 
thoughts  on  every  occasion  of  public  and  private  interest.  He  wrote 
as  he  lived  and  he  lived  as  he  wrote.  Hence  his  life  is  written  in  his 
works,  and  his  works  to  a  great  extent  are  unintelligible  without  a 
knowledge  of  his  life.  His  poems  to  be  studied  profitably  should 
therefore  be  read  chronologically.  His  works  must  be  taken  as  a 
whole.  They  must  be  read  with  habitual  reference  to  the  time  in 
which  they  were  composed.  A  complete  key  for  this  sort  of  study 
will  be  found  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  William  Wordsworth  "  by  Christo- 
pher Wordsworth,  Canon  of  Westminster,  published  1851  by  Edward 
Moxon,  London. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Discuss  Wordsworth's  place  in  English  literature. 

2.  Why  does  it  take  time,  study,  and  maturity  to  make  one  an  enthusiastic 

Wordsworthian? 

3.  Compare  Wordsworth's  ancestry,  education,  poetry,  and  character  with 

Milton's,  Pope's,  and  Burns's. 

4.  By  what  poets  was  he  influenced  at  the  beginning  of  his  literary  career? 

5.  Discuss  his  fondness  for  wandering  and  his  attitude  toward  Nature. 

6.  How  was  he  affected  by  the  French  Revolution? 

7.  Write  a  sketch  of  his  friendship  with  Coleridge. 

8.  State  precisely  the  aims  of  the  two  poets  in  "  Lyrical  Ballads." 

9.  Does  Wordsworth  possess  the  "  high  seriousness "  that  characterizes 

the  greatest  poets?     Why  do  you  think  so? 
10.  Quote  from  his  poems  the  ten  lines  that  you  like  best. 

Suggested  Readings. — The  sonnet,  "  The  World  is  too  much  with 
us,"  "  The  Solitary  Reaper,"  "  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality,"  "  Daffo- 
dils," "  Michael,"  "  The  French  Revolution,"  "  Character  of  the  Happy 
Warrior "  and  the  "  Ode  to  Duty "  are  representative  of  Wordsworth's 
various  forms.  The  prefaces  to  the  early  editions  are  most  revealing 
of  the  poet's  purpose.  Professor  George  McLean  Harper's  "  Words- 
worth "  is  an  excellent  mine  for  further  investigation. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
SIR  WALTER  SCOTT   (1771-1832) 

"  Blessings  and  prayers  in  nobler  retinue 
Than  sceptered  king  or  laurelled  conqueror  knows, 
Follow  this   wondrous  potentate." 

— Wordsworth. 

"  When  I  am  very  ill  indeed  I  can  read  Scott's  novels,  and  they  are 
almost  the  only  books  I  can  then  read." — Coleridge. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  has  three  titles  to  distinction.  First,  he  wrote 
three  great  narrative  poems,  "  The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  "  Mar- 
mion,"  and  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  ";  second,  he  was  the  author  of 
twenty-nine  of  the  most  fascinating  novels  ever  penned;  and,  third, 
in  his  old  age,  when  overwhelmed  by  debts  contracted  through  the  in- 
competence of  business  partners,  he  heroically  set  himself  to  the  task 
of  repaying  their  obligations,  though  he  might  have  availed  himself 
of  the  bankrupt  laws.  As  Thomas  Carlyle  says,  no  sounder  piece  of 
British  manhood  was  put  together  in  that  eighteenth  century  of  time. 

Every  Scotchman  has  a  pedigree.  One  of  Scott's  ancestors 
was  a  Walter  Scott  who,  being  captured  and  given  his  choice  of 
being  hanged  or  marrying  meikle-mouthed  Meg,  the  ugliest  of  Sir 
Gideon  Murray's  daughters,  wisely  chose  the  lady,  who  acquired 
great  skill  in  pickling  the  beef  which  her  husband  stole.  Another 
was  a  chieftain  named  Beardie,  so  called  because,  after  the  Stuart 
kings  were  expelled,  he  ceased  to  use  a  razor.  Scott's  father  was  an 
attorney,  or,  to  be  technical,  a  Writer  to  the  Signet.  Walter  was 
born  August  15,  1771,  in  Edinburgh.  When  he  was  eighteen  months 
old,  a  fever  made  him  lame  for  life.  In  the  hope  of  curing  this  defor- 
mity, he  was  sent  to  live  at  Sandy  Knowe,  the  farm  of  his  paternal 
grandfather.  There  he  was  swathed  in  the  warm  hides  of  newly 
slain  sheep,  nourished  on  mountain  air,  contracted  a  strong  antipathy 
to  George  Washington,  drank  in  tales  of  border  warfare  from  the  lips 
of  his  grandfather,  and  learned  to  shout  the  ballad  of  Hardyknute, 
which  disgusted  the  parish  clergyman,  who  said:  "  One  may  as  well 
speak  in  the  mouth  of  a  cannon  as  where  that  child  is."  In  his  fourth 
Slf; 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  347 

year  the  child  was  sent  to  Bath,  a  famous  English  watering  place,  to 
have  his  leg  treated.  Here  he  lived  about  a  year  without  any  particu- 
lar benefit  except  what  he  derived  from  being  taken  by  an  indulgent 
uncle  to  see  "  As  You  Like  It."     He  was  charmed  by  the  witchery 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT 

1771 — 1832 

From   the   portrait   by   Sir   Edwin   Landseer 

of  the  play  but  so  scandalized  by  the  quarrel  between  Orlando  and 
Oliver  that 'he  screamed  out:  "  Ain't  they  brothers?  "  On  his  return 
home  he  found,  however,  that  quarrels  do  sometimes  occur  in  actual 
life  even  between  brothers.    Indeed  he  felt  so  severely  the  change  from 


348  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

being  a  single  indulged  brat  (his  own  word)  in  his  kind  grandmother's 
house  to  one  member  of  a  large  family  that  he  later  took  particular 
pains  in  the  rearing  of  his  own  children  to  guard  against  habits  of 
self-willed  caprice  and  domination. 

Among  the  books  which  he  first  read  were  Pope's  "  Homer  "  and 
Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  In  1 778  he  began  the  study  of  Latin 
in  the  high  school  of  Edinburgh.  Among  his  companions  here  his  good 
nature  and  inexhaustible  fund  of  stories  rendered  him  more  popular 
with  the  boys  than  with  the  masters,  though  he  finally  contrived  not 
only  to  understand  but  also  to  enjoy  Caesar,  Livy,  Sallust,  Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Terence.  He  also  stumbled  on  and  read  the  plays  of 
Shakespeare,  the  poems  of  Spenser,  Tasso's  "  Jerusalem  Delivered," 
and  Percy's  "  Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry."  The  latter  stuck 
so  marvellously  in  his  memory  as  to  cause  a  certain  clergyman  to  com- 
pliment him,  but  Scott  replied:  "  I  remember  only  what  hits  my  fancy. 
Probably  if  you  were  to  preach  two  hours,  I  could  not  remember  a 
word  you  said."  Greek,  however,  proved  such  a  stumbling  block  to 
Scott  that  he  was  known  in  school  as  "  The  Greek  blockhead."  In 
1785  he  began  in  his  father's  office  the  study  of  the  law,  and  though 
he  detested  he  conquered  the  barren  wilderness,  as  he  called  it,  of 
forms  and  conveyances.  His  chief  interest,  however,  soon  came  to  be 
adventurous  and  romantic  literature.  Everything  which  touched  on 
knight-errantry  was  particularly  acceptable  to  him,  and  he  soon  tried 
to  imitate  what  he  so  greatly  admired.  This  passion  drove  him  to 
learn  French  and  Italian  in  order  to  read  the  romantic  literature  not 
reachable  save  in  those  languages,  and  to  wander  far  afield  both 
afoot  and  on  horseback  for  the  purpose  of  viewing  the  scenes  where 
Scottish  history  had  been  made.  In  spite  of  "his  lameness,  he  some- 
times walked  as  much  as  thirty  miles  a  day.  In  the  midst  of  these 
studies,  he  completed  his  apprenticeship  in  law  and  was  admitted 
1792  to  the  Scottish  bar. 

As  a  lawyer  he  was  industrious  and  reasonably  successful.  His 
fees  rose  from  twenty-four  pounds  in  1792  to  144  pounds  in  1797. 
In  1799  he  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  Selkirkshire,  a  post  which 
secured  him  an  annual  salary  of  300  pounds.  In  1806  he  obtained 
in  addition  the  post  of  Clerk  of  the  Edinburgh  Court  of  Sessions, 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  319 

which  was  worth  £1300  a  year.  The  two  jobs  would  have  kept  an 
ordinary  lawyer  busier  than  most  lawyers  are,  yet  he  held  both  during 
his  greatest  literary  activity,  discharging  their  duties  ably.  In  politics 
he  was  always  a  Tory  and  sometimes  a  violent  one. 

Soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  Scott  made  an  expedition  to 
Liddesdale,  which  lies  on  the  border  of  England  and  was  then  a  wild 
and  inaccessiblejegion.  Here  he  explored  the  hills,  studied  the  ruins, 
began  to  gather  the  ancient  ballads,  and  enjoyed  himself  so  thor- 
oughly that  he  repeated  the  raid,  as  he  called  it,  for  six  successive 
summers.  He  varied  these  trips  by  long  expeditions  into  those  parts 
of  Stirhngshire  and  Perthshire  which  he  later  made  familiar  to  all 
readers  in  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake."  The  first  literary  result  of  these 
adventures  was  the  publication  in  1802  of  "  The  Minstrelsy  of  the 
Scottish  Border,"  which  succeeded  so  well  that  his  profits  were  600 
pounds.  The  second  was  an  original  epic,  "  The  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel,"  which  came  out  1805,  netted  him  769  pounds,  and  won 
such  popular  favor  that  he  decided  to  make  literature  his  main 
business.  "  Marmion  "  followed  in  1808  and  "  The  Lady  of  the 
Lake  "  in  1810.  Of  his  poems  "  Marmion  "  on  the  whole  is  the  best, 
but,  though  by  1830  it  had  reached  a  circulation  of  30,000,  it  was 
hardly  as  popular  as  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  which  netted  him 
over  2000  guineas  and  started  toward  the  Scottish  lakes  a  stream  of 
tourists  which  has  not  yet  begun  to  ebb.  Of  his  great  poems  "  The 
Lay  "  is  generally  considered  the  most  natural  and  original,  "  Mar- 
mion "  the  most  powerful  and  splendid,  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  "  the 
most  interesting,  romantic,  picturesque,  and  graceful.  Later  he  pro- 
duced other  narrative  poems  of  great  power  and  beauty,  "  Rokeby," 
"  The  Bridal  of  Triermain,"  "  The  Lord  of  the  Isles,"  and  "  Harold 
the  Dauntless,"  but  none  of  these  attained  or  deserved  the  popularity 
of  his  earlier  efforts. 

Scott's  poetry  is  vigorous  and  full  of  action.  He  tells  tales  of 
adventure  with  fire  and  power.  The  following  quotations  will  give 
some  notion  of  the  quality  of  his  verse: 

"  Breathes  there  the  man  witli  soul  so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

This  is  my  own,  my  native  land  !  " 

Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,     Canto  I'L    Stanza  i. 


350  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  And  dar'st  thou  then 
To  heard  the  lion  in  his  den, 
Tlie  Douglas  in  his  hall?" 

Marmion.     Canto  VI.     Stanza  14. 

"  '  Charge,  Chester,  charge  !  on,  Stanley,  on  !  ' 
Were  the  last  words  of  Marmion." 

Ibid.     Stanza  32. 

"  Come  one,  come  all !     This  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  as  I." 

Lady  of  the  Lake.     Canto  V.     Stanza  in. 

"And  the  stern  joy  which  warriors  feel 
In  foemen  worthy  of  their  steel." 

Ibid. 

Fine  as  this  in  its  way  is,  it  falls  far  below  the  poetry  of  Scott's 

contemporaries,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Shelley,  and  Keats,  in  the 

essentials  of  great  verse;    and  in  that  brilliancy  which  produces 

popular  applause  it  is  somewhat  inferior  to  Lord  Byron's  best  \fork. 

Probably  Scott  himself  was  thoroughly  aware  of  this.     At  all  events 

in  a  fortunate  moment  he  turned  his  attention  to  another  branch  of 

letters. 

A  romance  is  a  story  the  interest  of  which  depends  mainly,  if  not 
wholly,  on  the  events  it  relates.  Tales  of  this  character  both  in 
prose  and  verse  have  been  common  in  England,  at  least  since  Chaucer's 
day.  The  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  witnessed  the  production  of  the 
stories  of  Green,  Lodge,  Nash,  and  Peele,  which,  though  crude  in 
comparison  with  the  fiction  of  to-day,  may  be  said  to  mark  the 
beginnings  of  the  English  novel.  The  fundamental  difference  be- 
tween these  tales  and  the  old  romances  is  that  in  the  former  the  people 
are  depicted  as  real  people,  not  as  puppets.  The  transition  which 
then  began  was  far  advanced  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  as  is  evident  from  the  finished  portraiture  of  character  in 
.Addison's  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  papers  in  "  The  Spectator,"  1711- 
1712.  A  further  advance  is  seen  in  Daniel  Defoe's  "  Robinson 
Crusoe,"  which,  published  in  1719,  continues  to  this  day  to  be  the 
delight  of  all  normal  children  and  adults.  But  the  honor  of  writing 
the  first  real  English  novel,  or  rather  the  first  novel  in  any  language, 
at  least  in  the  modem  sense  of  the  word,  belongs  to  Samuel  Richardson 
(1689-1754). 

He  was  a  printer  by  trade.     In  his  youth  he  developed  such  a 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  351 

talent  for  letter-writing  that  the  young  women  of  his  acquaintance 
often  employed  him  to  compose  their  billets-doux.  In  1739,  when 
he  was  fifty,  a  publisher  hired  him  to  compile  a  book  of  model  letters 
for  the  benefit  of  the  illiterate.  In  executing  this  task  he  hit  upon  the 
plan  of  joining  the  letters  together  by  a  thread  of  narrative.  He  did 
this  in  a  style  so  agreeable  and  with  such  an  insight  into  feminine 
character  that  he  produced  a  real  work  of  art.  In  other  words,  he 
intended  a  complete  letter-writer  and  it  turned  to  "  Pamela,"  the 
first  novel.  This  book,  which  was  published  1740  in  two  volumes, 
achieved  an  immense  popular  success,  especially  among  women  and 
clergymen.  He  followed  it  in  1747-1748  with  "  Clarissa  "  in  seven 
volumes,  which  set  not  only  England  but  France  and  Germany  sob- 
bing and  which  was  such  a  favorite  of  Lord  Macaulay's  that  he  said 
he  could,  if  necessity  arose,  have  reproduced  it  from  memory. 
"Pamela"  represents  virtue  triumphant;  "Clarissa,"  virtue  beset. 
The  villain  in  the  latter  book,  named  Lovelace,  is  a  masterpiece  of 
character  drawing.  In  his  third  and  last  novel,  "  Sir  Charles  Grandi- 
son,"  Richardson  undertook  to  draw  a  good  man. 

Though  heartily  loved  and  honored  by  Dr.  Johnson,  Richardson 
was  unmercifully  laughed  at  by  Henry  Fielding  (1707-1754),  whose 
first  novel,  "  Joseph  Andrews,"  was  written  primarily  with  the  idea 
of  poking  fun  at  "  Pamela."  It  was  followed  1749  by  "  Tom  Jones," 
which,  according  to  Coleridge,  shares  the  honor  of  having  the  best  plot 
in  the  world  with  the  "  CEdipus  Rex  "  of  Sophocles  and  Ben  Jonson's 
"  Alchemist."  His  third  and  last  novel,  "  Amelia,"  was  published 
1751.  Fielding  was  a  much  greater  noveUst  than  Richardson,  whose 
rather  namby-pamby  morality  he  heartily  despised.  In  "  Joseph 
Andrews  "  Parson  Adams,  in  "  Tom  Jones  "  Squire  Western  and 
Partridge  the  barber,  and  in  "  Amelia  "  the  heroine  are  living  persons. 

Three  other  eighteenth  century  novelists  were  men  of  real  genius. 
These  were  Tobias  Smollett  (1721-1771),  Laurence  Sterne  (1713- 
1768),  and  Oliver  Goldsmith  (1728-1774).  Smollett's  "Roderick 
Random"  1748,  "Peregrine  Pickle"  1751,  "Ferdinand  Count 
Fathom"  1753,  and  "Humphrey  Clinker"  1771,  are  rich  in  humor, 
abound  in  exciting  adventures,  and  contain  pictures  of  contem- 
porary naval  life  of  priceless  historical  value.     His  Tom  Bowling  and 


352  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Admiral  Trunnion  are  admirably  drawn,  he  was  one  of  Scott's  favorite 
authors,  and  Thackeray  thought  "  Humphrey  Clinker  "  the  most 
amusing  story  ever  written.  Smollett  has  the  distinction,  if  it  be  one, 
of  having  introduced  the  bad  spelling  which  has  formed  so  large  a 
part  of  the  stock  in  trade  of  later  humorists.  Sterne,  who  was  a 
most  unclerical  clergyman,  produced  "Tristram  Shandy"  1760  and 
"  The  Sentimental  Journey  "  1768.  Both  have  much  style  and  little 
plot,  yet  both,  in  spite  of  the  latter  defect,  had  great  vogue  in  their 
day.  To  modern  readers,  however,  Richardson,  Fielding,  Smollett, 
and  Sterne  alike  are  apt  to  appear  both  dull  and  coarse.  Oliver  Gold- 
smith's "  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  which  has  been  already  noticed  in 
Chapter  XXHI,  is  the  only  eighteenth  century  novel,  aside  from 
"  Robinson  Crusoe,"  in  which  the  average  reader  of  to-day  can  still 
take  much  pleasure. 

During  the  period  from  1768  to  1815,  no  novel  equal  to  those  just 
mentioned  was  published,  though  Miss  Fanny  Burney  (1752-1840) 
delighted  readers  with  "  Evelina"  1778  and  "  Cecilia"  1782;  Mrs. 
Radcliffe  (1764-1823)  terrorized  and  mystified  the  young  with  "  The 
Mysteries  of  Udolpho  "  1794  and  other  weird  creations;  William 
Beckford  (1760-1844)  published  his  Arabian  tale  of  "  Vathek  "  1782, 
and  IVIaria  Edgeworth  (1767-1844)  by  means  of  ''  Castle  Rackrent  " 
1800  and  "The  Absentee"  1812  introduced  to  the  English  their 
amiable  Irish  cousins.  Jane  Austen  (1775-1817)  had  indeed  pub- 
lished three  of  the  most  exquisite  novels  ever  written,  "  Sense  and 
Sensibility"  1811,  "Pride  and  Prejudice"  1813,  and  "Mansfield 
Park  "  1814,  but  these  were  as  yet  little  known.  Scott  had  practi- 
cally a  clear  field  when  in  1814  he  pubhshed  "  Waverley." 

Begun  in  1805,  this  work  had  been  thrown  aside  for  nine  years, 
partly  because  of  his  interest  in  poetry  and  partly  by  reason  of  the 
unfavorable  criticism  of  friends.  In  1814  he  found  the  almost  forgot- 
ten manuscript  of  the  first  seven  chapters  and  in  three  weeks  completed 
the  book.  It  was  published  July  7,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year 
had  netted  the  author  over  1000  pounds.  Its  popularity  was  well 
deserved.  In  its  fascinating  pages  Scott  had  contrived  to  combine, 
as  none  of  his  predecessors  had  done,  the  merits  of  the  romance  and 
the  merits  of  the  novel.     Here  were  the  strength  of  Smollett,  the  ele- 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT 


353 


gance  and  humor  of  Goldsmith,  a  tragic  power  second  only  to  Shake- 
speare's, and  an  indescribable  faculty  of  narration  which  was  all  the 
author's  own.  The  extraordinary  success  of  the  story  determined  the 
nature  of  Scott's  literary  activity  throughout  the  rest  of  his  life. 
During  the  next  eighteen  years  he  produced  over  twenty-five  great 
novels.  To  describe  them  in  detail  within  the  limits  of  this  book  is 
impossible.  The  following  table  may,  however,  give  the  student  some 
idea  of  their  variety  and  their  value: 

Name  of  Nove'          Published             Historical  Setting  Country  Date 

Waverley 1814     Stuart  Rebellion  Scotland  1745 

Guy  l^annering 1815     Scott's  Youth  Scotland  1770 

The  j^ntiquary 1816     Scott's  Early  Manhood  Scotland  1795 

Black  Dwarf 1816     Queen  Anne's  Reign  Scotland  1700 

Old  Mortality 1816     Scotch  Covenanters  Scotland  1679 

RobiRoy 1817     Reign  of  George  I  Scotland  1715 

Heart  of  Mid-Lothian. .  .1818     Reign  of  George  II  Scotland  1736 

Bride  of  Lammermoor..  .  1819     WilUam  III  Scotland  1695 

The  Legend  of  Montrose.  18 19     Civil  War  in  England  Scotland  1645-6 

Ivanhoe 1820     Reign  of  Richard  I  England  1 189-1 199 

The  Monastery 1820     Reformation  (Edward  VI)  Scotland  1550 

The  Abbot     (Sequel     to 

Monastery) 1820     Mary  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scotland  1567-8 

Scots 

Kenilworth 1821     Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  England  1575 

The  Pirate 182 1     Orkney  Islands  Scotland  1700 

The  Fortunes  of  Nigel  .  .  1822     Reign  of  James  I  England  1604 

Tales  of  a  Grandfather.  .  1822     (a)  French  History  France 

(b)  Scotch  History  Scotland 

Peveril  of  the  Peak 1823     Reign  of  Charfes  II  England  1678 

Quentin  Durward 1823     Reign  of  Louis  XI  France  1468 

St.  Ronan's  Well 1823     Modem  (Scott's  Scotland)  Scotland  18 12 

Redgatmtlet 1824     Young  Pretender  Scotland  1763 

The  Betrothed 1825     The  Third  Crusade  Wales  1 187 

(Henry  II) 

The  Talisman 1825     The  Crusades  (Richard  I)  Palestine  1189-92 

Woodstock 1826     Reign  of  Charles  I  England  1651-2 

Chronicles  of  Canongate.  1827     George  III  Scotland  1775-95 

Fair  Maid  of  Perth 1828     Robert  III  of  Scotland  Scotland  1402 

Anne  of  Geierstein 1829     Henry  VII  of  England,  Switzerland,  1474-7 

Charles  the  Bold   of  France, 

Burgundy,      Hussite  Germany 

Wars 

Count  Robert  of  Paris..    1831     Fall  of  Eastern  Empire  Constanti-  1098 

— William  Rufus  nople 

Castle  Dangerous 1831     Edward   I   and   Robert  Scotland  1306-7 

Bruce 

In  producing  these  novels,  Scott  seemed,  according  to  Lockhart,  not 
so  much  to  exercise  as  to  enjoy  his  genius.    They  were  all  written  with 
23 


354  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

great  rapidity,  at  least  two-thirds  of  "  Waverley,"  for  instance,  in 
three  weeks,  and  all  of  "  Woodstock  "  in  less  than  three  months. 
Large  portions  of  "  The  Bride  of  Lammermoor,"  all  of  "  The  Legend 
of  Montrose,"  and  most  of  "  Ivanhoe  "  were  dictated  from  a  sick-bed, 
but  as  soon  as  he  was  again  able  to  hold  a  pen  Scott  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  writing  everything  with  his  own  hand,  saying  that  he  would  no 
more  think  of  dictation  when  able  to  write  than  of  riding  in  a  sedan 
chair  while  he  could  walk.  He  published  "  Waverley  "  anonymously, 
because  he  was  afraid  that  the  reputation  he  had  already  won  would 
be  injured  if  he  were  known  as  the  author  of  such  a  muddling  work. 
Although  his  disguise  was  at  once  penetrated  by  discerning  critics, 
one  of  whom  said  the  author  mu:t  be  Walter  Scott  or  the  devil,  he  did 
not  formally  cast  off  his  disguise  until  1826.  Long  before  that  date, 
however,  the  Waverley  novels  had  won  a  permanent  place  in  literature. 
The  only  controversy  now  possible  is  not  as  to  their  absolute  but  as 
to  their  relative  value.  While  most  Scotchmen  claim  first  place  for 
"  Guy  Mannering  "  or  "  The  Heart  of  Mid-Lothian,"  the  favorite 
of  most  English  and  American  readers  is  probably  "  Ivanhoe."  In- 
deed they  are  all  as  good  reading  now  as  in  the  days  when  they  first 
set  the  world  on  fire  with  enthusiasm  and  filled  the  author's  purse  to 
overflowing.  In  comparison  with  the  sums  earned  by  earlier  writers, 
his  pecuniary  gains  from  the  novels  were  prodigious,  probably  aver- 
aging from  1815  to  1830  not  less  than  10,000  pounds  a  year. 

They  needed  to  be  prodigious,  for  Scott  was  at  once  one  of  the 
most  prodigal  and  improvident  of  mortals.  His  chief  ambition  appears 
to  have  been  not  to  gain  literary  fame  but  to  become  a  member  of  the 
landed  aristocracy.  Married  in  1797  to  Charlotte  Margaret  Car- 
penter, he  soon  found  himself  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
fairly  expensive  family.  In  addition  to  a  house  in  Edinburgh,  he 
leased  from  1804  to  1811  a  farm  called  Ashestiel,  and  in  the  latter 
year  purchased  on  the  banks  of  the  Tweed  near  Melrose  the  begin- 
nings of  an  estate  which  he  named  Abbotsford.  This  grew  year  by 
year  until  it  comprised  about  1000  acres.  Here  he  planted  trees,  built 
a  noble  mansion,  and  entertained  his  friends  with  lavish  hospitality. 
He  kept  a  flag  to  summon  his  neighbors  by  telegraph  to  partake  of 
the  cheer  of  Abbotsford.    Among  his  favorite  sports  was  ''  burning 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  355 

the  water,"  or  spearing  salmon  in  the  Tweed  at  night  with  the  aid  of 
torches,  a  pastime  which  produced  more  duckings  than  fish.  As  an 
annual  event  he  instituted  the  Abbotsford  hunt,  which  was  so  delight- 
ful that  at  least  one  honest  laird  on  returning  from  it  told  his  wife 
that  he  would  like  to  sleep  during  the  entire  interval  between  hunts. 
Records  of  his  hospitality  and  of  the  spirit  of  the  place  have  been  left 
by  Wordsworth  in  his  Yarrow  poems  and  by  Washington  Irving. 
How,  in  the  midst  of  his  professional  duties  and  this  busy  country 
life  he  ever  found  time  to  write  was  a  mystery  to  the  latter.  The 
explanation  was  simple.  He  was  always  busy.  He  rose  at  five  o'clock 
and  worked  until  ten,  thus  breaking  the  back  of  the  day's  work.  At 
ten  he  breakfasted  with  his  family  and  guests.  After  breakfast  he 
sat  two  hours  longer  at  his  desk  and  was  thus  by  noon  "  his  own  man," 
with  a  right  to  say  to  his  writing  box  "  Out,  damned  spot!  "  and  be  a 
gentleman.  As  became  a  gentleman,  he  owned  and  rode  horses  whom 
nobody  else  could  manage,  was  always  surrounded  by  dogs,  and  was 
by  no  means  averse  to  cats.  His  children  had  always  free  access  to 
his  study;  he  was  always  ready  to  answer  their  questions;  and  they 
thought  that  no  sport  could  go  on  in  the  right  way  unless  papa  were 
of  the  party.  In  his  opinion  the  one  essential  thing  in  education  was 
to  arouse  the  young  curiosity.  On  Sundays  the  family  usually  had  a 
picnic  in  some  wild  spot,  the  occasion  being  improved  by  talks  from 
Scott  on  religion  or  history.  In  short,  to  man  and  beast,  to  high 
and  low,  he  was  the  quintessence  of  kindness  and  courtesy.  On  Sun- 
days he  always  walked  that  his  horse  might  not  be  deprived  of  his  rest. 
"  Sir  Walter,"  said  one  of  his  servants,  "  speaks  to  every  man  as  if 
they  were  blood-relations."  He  himself  said:  "  I  am  unconscious  of 
ever  having  done  any  man  an  injury  or  omitted  any  fair  opportunity 
of  doing  any  man  a  benefit." 

"  And  thus  he  bore  without  abuse 
The  grand  old  name  of  gentleman." 

From  1812  on,  Scott's  professional  income  was  1600  pounds  a 
year.  Besides  what  he  made  by  virtue  of  his  poems  and  novels,  he 
also  earned  large  sums  by  odd  jobs  of  writing.  Among  these  was  the 
editing  of  the  works  of  Dryden  1808  in  18  volumes  octavo  and  those 
of  Swift  1814  in  19  volumes  octavo.     In  1822  he  wrote  in  two  rainy 


356  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

mornings  a  dramatic  sketch  of  the  Battle  of  Hahdon  Hill  and  sold  the 
manuscript  for  1000  pounds.  His  expenses  and  his  desire  for  land 
were,  however,  so  great  that  he  did  not  save  as  much  as  prudence 
required.  His  baronetcy,  which  was  the  first  conferred  by  George  IV 
after  his  accession,  did  not  reduce  Scott's  expenses.  He  contrived, 
however,  between  1805  and  1809  to  invest  about  9000  pounds  in  the 
printing  and  bookselling  firms  of  John  and  James  Ballantyne.  The 
results  were  disastrous.  The  Ballantyne  brothers  were  amiable  and 
they  worshipped  Scott,  but  they  could  not  keep  books.  As  early  as 
1814  the  firm  was  in  deep  water  and  was  saved  only  by  the  extraor- 
dinary success  of  "  Waverley."  Their  history  for  the  next  eleven 
years  was  a  succession  of  narrow  escapes  from  bankruptcy.  Finally, 
in  1826,  the  business  collapsed  and  Scott  found  himself  at  the  age  of 
fifty-five  worth  about  130,000  pounds  less  than  nothing.  It  was  then 
that  the  true  nobility  of  the  man  displayed  itself.  He  might  have 
taken  refuge  behind  the  bankrupt  laws  and  begun  life  afresh,  but  he 
offered  instead  to  be  the  vassal  of  his  creditors  for  life  and  dig  in  the 
mine  of  his  imagination  to  make  good  their  losses.  He  was  allowed 
to  keep  Abbotsford  but  was  compelled  to  give  up  all  of  his  other 
property  and  to  live  within  the  limits  of  his  official  salary.  On  these 
terms  he  set  doggedly  to  work.  In  three  months  he  had  completed 
and  sold  "  Woodstock  "  for  £8228.  In  June,  1827,  he  finished  a  life 
of  Napoleon,  which  still  further  diminished  his  obligations  to  the  ex- 
tent of  £18,000.    By  1831,  he  had  reduced  his  debt  to  £56,000. 

His  health,  however,  broke  down  under  the  strain.  He  kept  his 
honor  untarnished  but  he  lost'  his  life  in  its  defense.  The  example 
of  hi3  stainless  probity  is  probably  the  most  enduring  of  his  legacies 
to  mankind.    As  Sir  Samuel  Egerton  Brydges  finely  says, 

"  The  glory  dies  not  and  the  grief  is  past." 
In  1831  he  suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis.     In  spite  of  the  warnings  of 
his  physicians,  he  insisted  on  returning  to  his  task  as  soon  as  he  had 
partially  recovered. 

"  'Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  success, 
Rut  we'll  do  more,  Sempronius,  we'll  deserve  it," 

he  said  playfully.    In  spite  of  painful  physical  sufferings  he  completed 

"  Count  Robert  of  Paris  "  and  "  Castle  Dangerous."    Then,  and  not 

till  then,  he  consented  to  spend  the  coming  winter  in  Italy  and  in  com- 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  357 

plete  abstinence  from  literary  labor.  As  soon  as  his  intention  was 
known,  the  government  placed  the  frigate  Barham  at  his  disposal.  He 
sailed  from  London  October  29,  183L  The  change,  however,  had 
come  too  late.  After  passing  the  winter  in  Italy,  he  returned,  or  rather 
was  brought  back,  to  Abbotsford  July  11,  1832.  Here,  on  September 
2 1  of  the  same  year,  he  died.    He  was  buried  in  Dryburgh  Abbey. 

Of  the  54,000  pounds  which  he  still  owed  at  his  death,  all  but 
30,000  pounds  was  at  once  paid  by  his  life  insurance  and  some  small 
sums  in  the  hands  of  his  trustees.  The  entire  debt  was  finally  extin- 
guished 1847  and  Abbotsford  left  in  his  family's  possession  through 
profits  arising  from  the  copyrights  on  his  works. 

In  1838  Scott's  son-in-law,  John  Gibson  Lockhart,  published  in 
seven  volumes  a  life  of  the  great  story-teller  and  minstrel.  In  1848 
this  work  was  abridged  by  the  author  to  two  volumes  and  in  our  own 
day  it  has  been  reduced  by  Mr.  O.  L.  Reid  to  the  limits  of  one  of 
Macmillan's  pocket  classics.  In  this  latter  form,  at  least,  it  should 
be  owned  and  read  by  every  student,  for  it  is  one  of  the  best  biogra- 
phies in  the  world,  as  good  as  Trevelyan's  "  Macaulay  "  and  second 
only  to  Boswell's  "  Johnson,"  and  it  contains  the  picture  of  a  man 
whose  virtue  was  like  precious  odors,  sweetest  when  crushed. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Do  you  think  a  boy  or  girl  who  is  brought  up  to  read  the  Waverley 

Novels  more  lucky  than  the  one  who  has  spent  his  or  her  leisure 
reading  stories  of  baseball,  automobiles,  and  detectives? 

2.  What  are  Walter  Scott's  three  titles  to  distinction? 

3.  Name  the  forces  that  bore  upon  the  boy  Scott's  imagination. 

4.  In  what  respects  does  the  poetry  of  Scott  diflfer  from  that  of  Pope? 

5.  Name  some  of  the  forerunners  of  Scott  in  the  field  of  the  English 

novel.     Who  were  the  first  English  romancers? 

6.  In   a  three-minute   talk   present   "  the    Spirit   of    Abbotsford."     What 

aspects   of  the   feudal   lordship   were  presented    in   the   life  of   Sir 
Walter  Scott? 

7.  Does   the   characterization  or   description   of   the   times   or  the   action 

appeal  to  you  the  most  in  that  novel  of  Scott's  which  you  like  best? 

8.  Was  Walter  Scott  a  "man"  as  well  as  a  poet  and  a  novelist?     Was 

Burns  a  "man";   was   Milton;   was  Johnson?     Of  the  four,   who 
strikes  you  as  being  most  thoroughly  a  man  ? 

9.  What  do  you  know  of  Scott's  method  of  composition? 

10.  Write  your  own  impressions  of  Scott's  life,  his  poetry,  or  his  novels. 

Suggested  Readings. — "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  "  is  but  one  of  a  group 
of  magnificent  narrative  poems;  if  you  have  time  read  the  others.  Also 
read  one  of  his  novels  other  than  those  you  are  required  to  read ;  you 
will  like  it.  Lockhart's  "  Life  of  Scott "  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  is 
charming. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE  (1772-1834) 

"  Tlie  rapt  one  of  the  godlike  iorehead."— IV ordsworth. 
"  Magician,  metaphysician,  bard  !  " — Lamb. 

"All  other  men  whom  I  have  ever  known  are  mere  children  to  him, 
and  yet  all  is  palsied  by  a  total  want  of  moral  stTength."—Southey. 
"  A  cloud  encircled  meteor  of  the  air, 
A  hooded  eagle  among  blinking  owls." 

— Shelley. 

Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  was  born  at  Ottery  St.  Mary,  in 
Devonshire,  October  21,  1772.  While  his  great  friend  and  rival, 
Wordsworth,  grew  up  in  the  fields,  Coleridge  passed  his  childhood 
among  books.  His  father  was  a  preacher,  who  regarded  Hebrew  as 
the  immediate  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  quoted  it  as  such  to 
his  parishioners.  He  used  to  call  the  ablative  case  in  Latin  the 
qiiippe-quare-quale-quidditive  case.  Perhaps  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  Samuel  Taylor  ran  away  from  home  and  slept  all  night  in  a 
storm  and  in  consequence  contracted  the  ague.  Later  at  school  we 
find  him,  on  a  dare,  swimming  across  a  river  in  his  clothes  and  not 
stopping  afterwards  to  change  them,  a  prank  which  resulted  in 
rheumatism,  neuralgia,  and  the  use  of  opium  to  the  everlasting  detri- 
ment of  his  usefulness  in  the  world. 

In  1781  he  lost  his  father,  and  in  1782  was  sent  to  a  charity  school 
in  London  known  as  Christ's  Hospital.  The  student  should  read  the 
description  of  this  school  which  is  given  in  Charles  Lamb's  essay 
"  Christ's  Hospital  Five  and  Thirty  Years  Ago."  The  orphan  de- 
scribed in  this  essay  was  Coleridge.  At  school  he  acquired  a  great 
reputation  for  learning.  Lamb  calls  him  "  the  inspired  charity  boy," 
and  gives  us  a  picture  of  him  reciting  Greek  hexameters  and  expound- 
ing Jamblicus  and  Plotinus  to  passers-by.  The  discipline  in  this  school 
was  severe,  the  training  strenuous,  and  the  food  bad.  "  Thank 
heaven!  "  said  Coleridge,  "  I  was  flogged  instead  of  being  flattered." 
At  one  time  he  fancied  himself  an  atheist,  at  another  he  decided  to  be 
a  shoemaker.  The  book  which  most  influenced  him  during  these 
358 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  c  OLKRIDGE  359 

school  days  was  Bowles's  sonnets,  which  impressed  him  because  of 
their  rare  fidelity  to  nature. 

In  1 791  he  went  up  to  Jesus  College,  Cambridge.  Here  he  became 
familiar  with  Wordsworth's  "  Descriptive  Sketches."  His  residence 
at  Cambridge,  however,  was  short.     In  the  December  of  1793,  he 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE 
1772— 1834 
From  the  drawing  (Age  24)  by  R.  Hancock 

enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  army  under  the  name  of  Silas  Tompkyn 
Cumberback  (S.  T.  C).  One  of  his  officers  discovered  his  character 
and  learning,  however,  by  the  fact  that  he  had  written  the  Latin  line, 
Eheu!  quam  infortunii  miserrimum  est  fuisse  felicem.  He  was  accord- 


:J60 


ENGLISH  LI'J  HHATl  RE 


ingly  discharged  in  the  following  April.  In  June,  we  find  him  at 
Oxford  with  Robert  Southey,  and  in  the  autumn  the  two  were  engaged 
upon  a  grand  sociological  scheme  called  Pantisocracy,  the  three  car- 
dinal doctrines  of  which  were:  (1)  That  they  should  go  to  America; 
(2)  That  they  should  found  there  a  commonwealth  in  which  all  prop- 
erty was  to  be  held  in  common;  (3)  That  each  member  of  the  Order 
should  take  unto  himself  a  wife.  The  third  item  was  the  only  one 
that  ever  came  to  pass.  The  two  poets  married  two  sisters  named 
Fricker. 

In  1795  Coleridge  published  at  Bristol  a  small  volume  of  poems. 
They  were  printed  by  Amos  Cottle,  a  name  wath  which  Byron  made 
merry  in  the  Hne  "O  Amos  Cottle!  Phoebus!  What  a  name!" 
"  Once,"  Byron  added,  "  he  was  a  writer  of  poems  nobody  would 
print;  now  he  is  a  printer  of  poems  nobody  will  read."  With  regard 
to  this  early  volume  of  Coleridge's,  Byron's  statement,  for  a  time  at 
least,  proved  correct.  In  order  to  earn  bread  and  butter,  he  accord- 
ingly started  a  paper  called  "  The  Watchman."  It  appeared  between 
March  1  and  May  13,  1796,  being  issued  every  eighth  day  to  avoid 
the  stamp  tax.  The  poet  made  a  tour  to  get  subscribers,  but  did  not 
succeed.  On  September  19,  his  son  Hartley  Coleridge,  himself  a 
famous  poet,  was  born.  In  December  he  settled  at  Nether  Stowey, 
where  he  made  his  home  for  the  next  four  years.  On  December  31, 
he  wrote  his  "  Ode  to  the  Departing  Year." 

The  year  1797  marks  the  beginning  of  Coleridge's  maturity.  The 
Wordsworths.  William  and  Dorothy,  settled  at  Alfoxden  in  July  of 
that  year.  In  June,  at  Racedown,  Coleridge  met  Wordsworth  and  his 
sister  Dorothy;  as  one  of  them  said,  "  Three  people  were  thereupon 
made  one  soul."  Wordsworth  immediately  read  his  poem  "  The 
Ruined  Cottage"  to  Coleridge;  then  Coleridge  read  to  Wordsworth 
two  acts  of  his  tragedy,  "  Osorio."  The  next  morning  Wordsworth 
read  to  Coleridge  his  tragedy,  "  The  Borderers."  Under  the  influence 
of  this  inspiring  companionship,  Coleridge,  on  November  13,  began 
the  "  Ancient  Mariner,"  a  poem  which  all  school  boys  and  giris  should 
know  by  heart.  During  the  fall  of  this  year,  he  also  began  "  Crista- 
bel,"  "  Kubla  Khan,"  and  his  lines  on  "  Love."  Of  these,  he  finished 
only  the  "  Ancient  Mariner,"  being  already  rendered  indolent  and 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE  361 

ineffective  by  the  use  of  opium,  to  which  he  had  been  led  by  the 
neuralgia  caused  by  his  childish  adventure  in  the  water. 

Somebody,  indeed,  has  called  him  a  man  of  magnificent  begin- 
nings. In  spite,  however,  of  the  fragmentary  condition  in  which  he 
left  these  poems,  George  Saintsbur>'  says  of  them  and  says  truly: 
"  Here  is  what  one  hears  at  most  three  or  four  times  in  English  litera- 
ture, at  most  ten  or  twelve  times  in  all  literature — the  first  note — with 
its  endless  echo — promise  of  a  new  poetry."  What  he  means  is  that 
Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  gave  to  English  poetry  a  quality  of  truth 
illuminated  by  imagination  which  it  had  not  possessed  since  the  days 
of  Milton.  The  fruits  of  the  intellectual  activity  of  these  months 
was  given  to  the  world  the  next  year  in  the  form  of  a  book  called 
"  Lyrical  Ballads."  This  priceless  volume  contained,  in  addition  to 
Coleridge's  "  Ancient  Mariner,"  Wordsworth's  "  We  are  Seven,"  "  Ex- 
postulation and  Reply,"  "  The  Tables  Turned,"  and  "  Tintern 
Abbey."  In  this  connection  it  is  worth  noting  that  all  of  Cole- 
ridge's best  poetry  was  written  under  the  influence  of  Wordsworth. 
In  September  of  this  year,  the  two  friends  went  together  to  Germany ; 
among  other  places,  they  visited  Cologne,  about  which  Coleridge  wrote 
the  following  famous  lines: 

"  The  River  Rhine,  it  is  well  known, 
Does  wash  your  city  of  Cologne ; 
But  tell  me.  Xymphs.  what  power  divine 
Shall  henceforth  wash  the  River  Rhine?" 

The  friends  returned  in  July  to  England  and  proceeded  to  visit  the 
Lake  country,  which  they  afterward  made  famous  as  their  home.  In 
December,  Coleridge  was  offered  two  thousand  pounds  a  year  to  take 
charge  of  the  publication  of  the  "  ^Morning  Post."  He  replied,  '"  I 
would  not  give  up  the  country  and  the  lazy  reading  of  old  folios  for 
two  thousand  times  two  thousand  pounds — in  short,  beyond  three 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  a  year  I  consider  money  a  real  evil." 

The  opening  year  of  the  new  century  was  an  eventful  one  for  Cole- 
ridge. He  published  his  great  tragedy,  "  Wallenstein,"  and  wrote 
several  short  poems,—"  The  Visit  of  the  Gods,"  "  A  Child's  Ques- 
tion," his  poem  on  "  Metres,"  and  the  "  Knight's  Tomb," — all  of  which 
should  be  read  by  every  student.  On  September  14,  Derwent  Cole- 
ridge was  bom.    Late  in  the  year  we  find  him  visiting  Charles  Lamb 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

ingly  discharged  in  the  following  April.  In  June,  we  find  him  at 
Oxford  with  Robert  Southey,  and  in  the  autumn  the  two  were  engaged 
upon  a  grand  sociological  scheme  called  Pantisocracy,  the  three  car- 
dinal doctrines  of  which  were:  (1)  That  they  should  go  to  America; 
(2)  That  they  should  found  there  a  commonwealth  in  which  all  prop< 
erty  was  to  be  held  in  common;  (3)  That  each  member  of  the  Order 
should  take  unto  himself  a  wife.  The  third  item  was  the  only  one 
that  ever  came  to  pass.  The  two  poets  married  two  sisters  named 
Fricker. 

In  1795  Coleridge  published  at  Bristol  a  small  volume  of  poems. 
They  were  printed  by  Amos  Cottle,  a  name  with  which  Byron  made 
merry  in  the  line  "O  Amos  Cottle!  Phoebus!  What  a  name!" 
"  Once,"  Byron  added,  "  he  was  a  writer  of  poems  nobody  would 
print;  now  he  is  a  printer  of  poems  nobody  will  read."  With  regard 
to  this  early  volume  of  Coleridge's,  Byron's  statement,  for  a  time  at 
least,  proved  correct.  In  order  to  earn  bread  and  butter,  he  accord- 
ingly started  a  paper  called  "  The  Watchman."  It  appeared  between 
March  1  and  May  13,  1796,  being  issued  every  eighth  day  to  avoid 
the  stamp  tax.  The  poet  made  a  tour  to  get  subscribers,  but  did  not 
succeed.  On  September  19,  his  son  Hartley  Coleridge,  himself  a 
famous  poet,  was  born.  In  December  he  settled  at  Nether  Stowey, 
where  he  made  his  home  for  the  next  four  years.  On  December  31, 
he  wrote  his  "  Ode  to  the  Departing  Year." 

The  year  1797  marks  the  beginning  of  Coleridge's  maturity.  The 
Wordsworths,  William  and  Dorothy,  settled  at  Alfoxden  in  July  of 
that  year.  In  June,  at  Racedown,  Coleridge  met  Wordsworth  and  his 
sister  Dorothy;  as  one  of  them  said,  "  Three  people  were  thereupon 
made  one  soul."  Wordsworth  immediately  read  his  poem  "  The 
Ruined  Cottage"  to  Coleridge;  then  Coleridge  read  to  Wordsworth 
two  acts  of  his  tragedy,  "  Osorio."  The  next  morning  Wordsworth 
read  to  Coleridge  his  tragedy,  "  The  Borderers."  Under  the  influence 
of  this  inspiring  companionship,  Coleridge,  on  November  13,  began 
the  "  Ancient  Mariner,"  a  poem  which  all  school  boys  and  giris  should 
know  by  heart.  During  the  fall  of  this  year,  he  also  began  "  Cnsta- 
bel,"  "  Kubla  Khan,"  and  his  lines  on  "  Love."  Of  these,  he  finished 
only  the  "  Ancient  Mariner,"  being  already  rendered  indolent  and 


•A^ 


tive  ty  '■  -'' 


Dings.  Id?'' 
lefttie>e?r 
iijjyeijw:-: 
ture,atnio='.'- 


illuminated'::' 
ofMiltoD.  '•■ 
was  given  "x  - 
"Lyrical  Baliai'  T* 
ColeridgeV.^aoa'** 
postulatioD  and  R^- 
Abbey."  In  '^  £■* 
ridge's  best  potDTWi 
inSeptember"'''*^  '■ 
amoDgoiher:- 
the  foiloratt  ir  -■  :• 


The  frienG  :■ 
LakecounL7 
December,  C;  ■ 
charge  of  •:- 
would  noi  r  - 
two  thousanc 
hundred  and :. 


several  short 


pCCi- 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLEGIDGE  363 

"Stop,  Christian  passer-by! — Stop,  child  of  God, 
And  read  with  gentle  breast.     Beneath  this  sod 
A  poet  lies,  or  that  which  once  seemed  he, — 
O.  lift  one  thought  in  prayer  for  S.  T.  C. ; 
That  he  who  many  a  year  with  toil  of  breath 
Found  death  in  life,  may  here  find  life  in  death  ! 
Mercy  for  praise — to  be  forgiven  for  fame 
He  ask'd,  and  hoped,  through  Christ.     Do  thou  the  same  !  " 

The  poetry  of  Coleridge,  incomplete  though  it  is,  is  genuine  in  the 
highest  degree.  It  is  best  described,  perhaps,  by  some  of  his  own 
words.  In  speaking  of  another  writer's  work,  he  says  that  the  reader 
will  rise  from  its  contemplation  in  a  frame  of  mind  which  can  be  best 
described  by  the  words  "  inspiration  "  and  "  exaltation," 

"  For   he  on   honey-dew   hath   fed 
And  drunk  the  milk  of  Paradise." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Wordsworth  passed  his  boyhood  in  the  fields,  Coleridge  among  books. 

How  do  these  respective  influences  appear  in  the  poetry  of  the  two 
men? 

2.  What  effect  did  opium  have  upon  Coleridge? 

3.  Who  was  "  Silas  Tompkyn  Cumberback"? 

4.  What  do  you  think  of  the  doctrine  that  all  property  should  be  held  m 

common?     What  English  poets  had  such  a  plan? 

5.  Read  the  "  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  "  through  at  one  sitting  with 

the  door  of  your  room  locked  to  prevent  interruption.  Immediately 
write  two  hundred  words  expressing  your  feelings  after  having  read 
the  poem. 

6.  What  significance  had  the  publication  of  "Lyrical  Ballads"? 

7.  Repeat  to  the  class  the  anecdote  of  the  offer  of  the  London  editorship. 

8.  Write  a  five-hundred-word  essay  comparing  the  work  of  Coleridge  with 

that  of  Wordsworth. 

9.  Is  there  anjthing  in  Coleridge's  poetry  that  you  feel  to  be  imitative  of 

any  of  his  predecessors? 
10.  Read  Lamb's  "  Christ's  Hospital  Five  and  Thirty  Years  Ago  "  and  tell 
the  class  what  you  discovered  of  Coleridge's  youth. 

Suggested  Readings. — "  Love,"  "  The  Ancient  Mariner,"  "  Kubla 
Khan,"  and  "  Cristabel "  present  the  essence  of  romanticism.  Pater  in 
his  "  Appreciations  "  gives  us  an  excellent  monograph  on  Coleridge. 


ty,^,Ccy^^*^^^ 


UN 


aL\PTER  XXXI 

CHARLES  LAMB  (1775-1834) 

"The  frolic  and  the  gtnxle."—li'ords-dL:orth. 

**  O,  he  was  good,  if  e'er  a  good  man  lived." — Ibid, 

"  Love  and  charitj-  ripened  in  that  nature  as  peaches  ripen  on  the  wall 
that  fronts  the  sun." — A.  Smith. 

Charles  L.AiiB.  one  of  the  most  engaging  f)ersonalities  in  English 
literature,  on  April  IS.  1827.  wrote  his  autobiography  for  a  dictionary 
of  eminent  Britons.     It  is  as  follows: 

'•  Charles  Lamb,  bom  in  the  Inner  Temple,  10th  February,  1775; 
educated  in  Christ's  Hospital ;  afterwards  a  clerk  in  the  Accountants' 
Office,  East  India  House;  pensioned  off  from  that  service,  1825,  after 
thirn--three years'  sen-ice:  is  now  a  gentleman  at  large:  can  remember 
few  specialties  in  his  life  worth  noting,  exc^t  that  he  once  caught  a 
swallow  fl>'ing  (teste  sua  manu):  below  the  middle  stature;  cast  of 
countenance  slightly  Jewish,  with  no  Judaic  tinge  in  his  complexional 
religion ;  stammers  abominably,  and  is  therefore  more  apt  to  discharge 
his  occasional  conversation  in  a  quaint  aphorism,  or  a  poor  quibble, 
rh?^n  in  set  and  edif>ing  speeches ;  has  consequently  been  libelled  as  a 
person  always  aiming  at  wit,  which,  as  he  told  a  dull  fellow  that 
charged  him  with  it,  is  at  least  as  good  as  aiming  at  dullness.  A 
small  eater,  but  not  drinker;  confesses  a  partiality  for  the  product  of 
the  juniper  beny-;  was  a  fierce  smoker  of  tobacco;  but  may  be  resem- 
bled to  a  volcano  burnt  out,  emitting  only  now  and  thai  a  casual  puff. 
Has  been  guilt>'  of  obtruding  on  the  public  a  tale  in  prose,  called 
•Rosamund  Gray";  a  dramatic  sketch,  named  '"John  Woodvir';  a 
•'  Farewell  Ode  to  Tobacco,"  with  sundry-  other  poems,  and  light  prose 
matter  collected  in  two  slii^t  crown  octavos,  and  pompously  christened 
his  works,  though  in  fact  the\-  were  his  recreations:  and  his  true  works 
may  be  found  on  the  Selves  of  Leadenhall  Street,  filling  some  hun- 
dred folios.  He  is  also  the  true  Elia,  whose  essays  are  extant  in  a 
little  volume,  published  a  year  or  two  since,  and  rather  better  known 

364 


DiCt' 


jfcaD  !«*••* 


jrintiof 


[liei^^ 


T^k^ 


?;?">« 


CHARLES  LAMB 


365 


from  that  name  without  a  meaning  than  from  anything  he  has  done, 
or  can  hope  to  do,  in  his  own.  He  was  also  the  first  to  draw  the  public 
attention  to  the  old  English  dramatists,  in  a  work  called  "  Specimens 
of  English  Dramatic  Writers  who  lived  about  the  time  of  Shake- 
speare," published  about  fifteen  years  since.  In  short,  all  his  merits 
and  demerits  to  set  forth  would  take  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Upcott's  book, 
and  then  not  be  told  truly. 

He  died ,  18 — ,  much  lamented. ^     18th  April  1827. 

Witness  his  hand, 


Ch.\rles  Lamb. 


^  To  anybody — please  to  fill  up  these  blanks. — C.  L. 


CHARLES  LAMB 

1775— 1834 

From  the  drawing  (1798)  by  R.  Hancock 


This  tells  everything  except  that  he  was  almost  the  best  letter- 
writer  who  ever  lived,  one  of  the  most  charming  of  essayists,  and  a 
good  man,  if  ever  a  good  man  lived.     In  both  him  and  his  sister  Mary 


366  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

there  was  a  strain  of  hereditary  insanity.  In  the  latter  this  cul- 
minated 1796  in  a  terrible  tragedy.  A  maid  irritated  her;  their 
mother  intervened;  and  she  killed  the  latter  with  a  knife.  Charles 
by  becoming  her  guardian  saved  her  from  an  asylum,  and  sacrificed 
all  other  ties  and  ambitions  during  thirty-eight  years  to  the  fulfillment 
of  this  trust.  She  was  not  unworthy  of  such  love,  being  herself  a 
woman  of  genius,  as  is  evident  from  three  books  which  the  two  wrote 
together:  "Tales  from  Shakespeare,"  1807;  "Mrs.  Leicester's 
School,"  1807;  and  "  Poetry  for  Children,"  1809. 

In  Lamb's  essays  and  letters  we  have  an  autobiography  as  com- 
plete as  Boswell's  account  of  Johnson  and  as  attractive  as  Burns's 
poems.  The  first  of  the  "  Essays  of  Elia,"  that  on  the  "  South  Sea 
House,"  contains  several  sketches  of  his  official  superiors  and  fellow 
clerks.  We  read  of  a  certain  Vice-superintendent,  who  had  a  stoop 
like  a  nobleman's  and  an  intellect  that  did  not  reach  to  a  saw  or  a 
proverb;  of  an  accountant  who  thought  an  accountant  the  greatest 
character  in  the  world  and  himself  the  greatest  of  all  accountants;  and 
of  the  inimitable  solemn  Hepworth,  from  whose  gravity  Newton  might 
have  deduced  the  law  of  gravitation. 

The  paper  on  "  Oxford  in  the  Vacation  "  is  full  of  good  phrases 
and  sentences.  Toying  with  the  theme  of  Elia's  identity  he  invents 
the  quaint  punning  verb,  "  agnize,"  agna  being  Latin  for  "  lamb." 
He  rhymes  red-letter  days  with  dead  letter  days.  He  speaks  of  the 
sweet  food  of  academic  instmction.  He  finds  a  quaint  delight  in 
the  spits  that  have  cooked  for  Chaucer.  "  Above  all  thy  rarities, 
old  Oxenford,"  he  says,  "  what  do  most  arride  and  solace  me  are  thy 
repositories  of  old  learning,  thy  shelves — "  ending  the  sentence  with 
a  dash.  In  the  paper  on  "Christ's  Hospital"  he  draws  a  picture  of  his 
own  school  days  and  of  two  of  his  masters.  >One  was  the  Reverend 
Matthew  Field,  who  never  made  the  boys  work,  whose  only  care  was 
to  shut  himself  up  from  their  uproar,  and  who  so  mixed  the  useful 
with  the  agreeable  that  it  would  have  made  the  souls  of  Rousseau 
and  John  Locke  chuckle.  The  other  was  the  Reverend  James  Boyer, 
a  harsh  pedant,  who  laughed  at  jokes  of  Terence  that  were  too  thin  to 
have  moved  a  Roman  muscle  even  when  they  were  new.  who  borrowed 
whips  from  Field  with  the  sarcastic  comment  that  they  had  not  been 


CHARLES  LAMB  367 

much  used,  and  who  applied  them  with  rabidus  juror  to  poor  trem- 
bling children  (the  maternal  milk  hardly  dry  upon  their  lips).  "  Poor 
J.  B.!  May  all  his  faults  be  forgiven;  and  may  he  be  wafted  to  bliss 
by  little  cherub  boys,  all  head  and  wings,  with  no  nether  parts  to 
reproach  his  sublunary  infirmities."  The  same  paper  sings  thus  of 
school  friendships:  "  Oh,  it  is  pleasant,  as  it  is  rare,  to  find  the  same 
arm  linked  in  yours  at  forty,  which  at  thirteen  helped  it  to  turn  over 
the  Cicero  De  Amicitia  (On  Friendship)."  Finally  comes  a  picture 
of  Lamb's  school  and  life-long  friend,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge — even 
then  logician,  metaphysician,  bard  I — the  inspired  charity  boy! 

Of  all  these  essays  perhaps  none  makes  one  chuckle  more  than 
"  The  Two  Races  of  Men."  They  are  the  great  race  and  the  little 
race — those  who  borrow  and  those  who  lend.  The  theme  is  the  infinite 
superiority  of  the  former.  Where  can  you  match  Alcibiades,  Falstaff, 
Sir  Richard  Steele,  and  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan?  What  a  con- 
tempt for  money  (yours  and  mine)  and  for  the  pedantic  distinctions 
of  meum  and  tuum  (mine  and  thine) !  Then  there  are  reflections 
on  borrowers  of  books,  with  especial  reference  to  Comberbatch,  match- 
less in  his  depredations!  The  paper  ends  with  advice  to  lend  books, 
if  lend  you  must,  to  such  an  one  as  S.  T.  C,  who  will  return  them 
ahead  of  time  enriched  with  notes  that  triple  their  value.  The  humor 
of  this  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  predatory  Comberbatch  and  the 
admirable  S.  T.  C.  are  one  and  the  same,  i.e.,  the  author  of  "  The 
Ancient  Mariner." 

In  the  essay  on  "  Ears,"  handsome  volutes  to  the  human  capital, 
Lamb  calls  them,  we  find  the  author  frankly  confessing  himself  insen- 
sible to  pretentious  music.  "  Sentimentally  I  am  inclined  to  harmony, 
but  organically  I  am  incapable  of  a  tune,"  he  says.  Elsewhere  in 
verse  he  writes: 

"  Some  cry  up  Haydn,  some  Mozart, 
Just  as  the  whim  bites ;  for  my  part 
I  do  not  care  a  farthing  candle 
For  either  of  them,  or  for  Handel. 
Cannot  a  man  live  free  and  easy 
Without  admiring  Pergolesi? 
The  devil,  with  his  foot  so  cloven, 
For  all  I  care,  may  take  Beethoven. 


SG8  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Of  Doctor  Pepusch  old  Queen  Dido 
Knew  just  as  much,  God  knows,  as  I  do. 
I  would  not  go  four  miles  to  visit 
Sebastian  Bach  (or  Batch,  which  is  it?)" 

We  are  led  naturally  from  this  to  the  essay  on  "  Imperfect  Sympa- 
thies." "  I  have  been  trying  all  my  life  to  like  Scotchmen,"  says 
Elia,  "  and  am  obliged  to  desist  from  the  experiment  in  despair.  They 
cannot  like  me  and  in  truth  I  never  knew  one  of  that  nation  who 
attempted  to  do  it.  The  twilight  of  dubiety  never  falls  upon  them. 
I  was  present  not  long  since  at  a  party  of  North  Britons,  where  a  son 
of  Burns  was  expected;  and  happened  to  drop  a  silly  expression  (in 
my  South  British  way),  that  I  wished  it  was  the  father  instead  of  the 
son — when  four  of  them  started  up  at  once  to  inform  me  that  that 
was  impossible,  because  he  was  dead.  In  my  early  life  I  had  a  pas- 
sionate fondness  for  the  poetry  of  Burns.  I  have  sometimes  foolishly 
hoped  to  ingratiate  myself  with  his  countrymen  by  expressing  it.  But 
I  have  always  found  that  your  true  Scot  resents  your  admiration  of 
his  countryman  even  more  than  he  would  your  contempt." 

There  is  good  matter  in  all  of  these  compositions,  but  perhaps  extra 
good  in  "  Dream  Children,"  "  The  Praise  of  Chimney  Sweeps,"  "  The 
Dissertation  on  Roast  Pig,"  "  Detached  Thoughts  on  Books,"  "  Old 
China,"  "  The  Melancholy  of  Tailors,"  "  Table  Talk,"  and  "  The 
Gentle  Giantess."     For  instance: 

"  Those  tender  novices,  blooming  in  their  first  nigritude.  Innocent 
blacknesses.  Palates,  otherwise  not  uninstructed  in  dietetical  ele- 
gancies. Those  white  and  shiny  ossifications  (sweeps'  teeth).  All 
is  not  soot  which  looks  so." — Chimney  Sweeps. 

"  I  speak  not  of  your  grown  porkers — things  between  pig  and  pork 
— but  a  young  and  tender  suckling — under  a  moon  old — guiltless  as 
yet  of  the  sty,  with  no  original  speck  of  the  amor  immunditicB  (love  of 
filth),  the  hereditary  failing  of  the  first  parent,  yet  manifest — his  voice 
as  yet  not  broken,  but  something  between  a  childish  treble  and  a 
grumble — the  mild  forerunner  or  prccludium  of  a  grunt.  The  adhesive 
oleaginous — oh  call  it  not  fat!  but  an  indefinable  sweetness  growing 
up  to  it — the  tender  blossoming  of  fat — fat  cropped  in  the  bud.  See 
him  in  the  dish,  his  second  cradle,  how  meek  he  lieth!     Wouldst  thou 


CHARLES  LAMB  369 

have  had  this  innocent  grow  up  to  the  grossness  and  indocility  which 
too  often  accompany  mature  swinehood?  " — Roast  Pig. 

"  In  this  catalogue  of  books  which  are  no  books — biblia  abiblia — 
I  reckon  Court  Calendars,  Directories,  Pocket  Books,  Draught  Boards 
bound  and  lettered  on  the  back,  Scientific  Treatises,  Almanacs,  Stat- 
utes at  Large,  the  works  of  Hume,  Gibbon,  Robertson,  Beattie,  Soame 
Jenyns,  and  generally  all  those  volumes  which  no  gentleman's  library 
should  be  without,  the  histories  of  Flavins  Josephus,  and  Paley's 
*  Moral  Philosophy.'  With  these  exceptions,  I  can  read  almost  any- 
thing. I  bless  my  stars  for  a  taste  so  catholic,  so  unexcluding." — 
Books  and  Reading. 

"  The  adventitious  lubricity  of  melted  butter. — We  are  as  yet  but 
in  the  empirical  stage  of  cookery. — The  greatest  pleasure  I  know  is 
to  do  good  by  stealth  and  have  it  found  out  by  accident. — 'T  is  un- 
pleasant to  meet  a  beggar.  It  is  painful  to  deny  him ;  and,  if  you  re- 
lieve him,  it  is  so  much  out  of  your  pocket. — Furniture  wives  (empty- 
headed  but  pretty  women). — '  We  read  the  "  Paradise  Lost  "  as  a 
task,'  says  Dr.  Johnson.  '  Nobody  ever  wished  it  longer.'  '  Nor 
the  moon  rounder,'  he  might  have  added.  Would  we  have  a  cubit 
added  to  the  stature  of  the  Medician  Venus? — Kent,  the  noblest  con- 
ception of  Shakespeare's  divine  mind." — Table  Talk. 

"  She  is  indeed,  as  the  Americans  would  express  it,  something 
awful.  During  the  months  of  July  and  August  she  usually  renteth  a 
cool  cellar,  where  ices  are  kept,  whereinto  she  descendeth  when  Sirius 
rageth.  Softest  and  largest  of  thy  sex,  adieu!  Not  least,  or  least 
handsome,  among  Oxford's  stately  structures.  Oxford  who,  in  its 
deadest  time  of  vacation,  can  never  properly  be  said  to  be  empty, 
having  thee  to  fill  it." — The  Gentle  Giantess. 

So  much  for  Lamb's  essays.  His  letters  are  equally  attractive. 
Somebody  has  well  described  them  as  "  high  fantastical."  Note 
these  sentences:  "  My  civic  and  poetic  compliments  to  Southey,  if  at 
Bristol.  Why,  he  is  a  very  Leviathan  of  bards! — the  small  minnow  I. 
Dream  not  of  having  tasted  all  the  grandeur  and  wildness  of  fancy 
till  you  have  gone  mad!  I  could  forgive  a  man  for  not  enjoying 
Milton,  but  I  would  not  call  that  man  my  friend  who  should  be 
offended  with  the  divine  chit-chat  of  Cowper.    I  am  living  in  a  per- 

24 


S70  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

petual  feast:  Coleridge  has  been  with  me  now  for  nigh  three  weeks- 
Mary  is  just  stuck  fast  in  'All's  Well  that  Ends  Well.'  She  com- 
plains of  having  to  set  forth  so  many  female  characters  in  boys' 
clothes.  She  begins  to  think  that  Shakespeare  must  have  wanted — 
imagination!  The  first  duty  of  an  author  is,  I  take  it,  never  to  pay 
anything.  Have  taken  a  room  to  be  in  between  five  and  eight  at  night 
to  avoid  my  nocturnal,  alias  knock-eternal,  visitors!  No  new  style 
here;  all  the  styles  are  old,  and  some  of  the  gates  too  for  that  matter. 
What  a  nice  holiday  I  got  on  Wednesday  by  virtue  of  a  princess 
dying!  They  are  most  like  what  we  might  suppose  Petrarch  would 
have  written  if  Petrarch  had  been  a  fool.  I  have  meat  and  drink  and 
decent  apparel;  at  least  I  shall  ^hen  I  get  a  new  hat.  It  was  quite 
a  mistake  to  think  that  I  could  dislike  anything  you  should  write 
against  Lord  Byron;  for  I  have  a  thorough  aversion  to  his  character, 
and  a  very  moderate  admiration  of  his  genius;  he  is  great  in  so  little 
a  way.  Being  asked  if  his  father  (William  Wordsworth)  had  ever 
been  on  Westminster  Bridge,  he  answered  that  he  did  not  know. 
Harmless  red  ink,  or,  as  the  witty  mercantile  phrase  hath  it,  clerk's 
blood.  Leg  of  lamb,  as  before,  hot  at  four.  And  the  heart  of  Lamb 
forever!  They  (the  custom-house  people)  could  not  comprehend  how 
a  waistcoat  marked  Henry  Robinson  could  be  a  part  of  Miss  Lamb's 
wearing  apparel.  So  they  seized  it  for  the  King,  who  will  probably 
appear  in  it  at  the  next  levee.  Shelley  I  saw  once.  His  voice  was 
the  most  obnoxious  squeak  I  ever  was  tormented  with,  ten  thousand 
times  worse  than  the  laureate's,  whose  voice  is  the  worst  thing  about 
him  except  his  laureateship.  My  essays  want  no  preface;  they  are 
all  preface.  The  pig  was  above  my  feeble  praise.  It  was  a  dear 
pigmy.  WTiy  did  you  give  it  me?  I  do  not  like  you  enough  to  give 
you  anything  so  good.  A  middle-aged  gentleman  and  a  half.  I  am 
flatter  than  a  denial  or  a  pancake;  duller  than  a  country  stage  when 
the  actors  are  off  (on?)  it;  a  cipher,  an  O!  I  can't  distinguish  beef 
from  mutton.  My  skull  is  a  Grub  Street  attic,  to  let.  A  line  of 
Wordsworth  is  a  lever  to  lift  the  immortal  spirit;  Byron  can  only  move 
the  spleen.  Summer,  as  my  friend  Coleridge  waggishly  writes,  has  set 
in  with  his  usual  severity.  A  Scotchman  assured  me  he  did  not  see 
much  in  Shakespeare.     I  replied,  '  I  dare  say  not.'     He  felt  the 


CHARLES  LAMB  371 

equivoke,  looked  awkward  and  reddish,  but  soon  returned  to  the 
attack  by  saying  that  he  thought  Burns  was  as  good  as  Shakespeare. 
I  said  I  had  no  doubt  he  was — to  a  Scotchman.  I  have  been  to  a 
funeral,  where  I  made  a  pun,  to  the  consternation  of  the  rest  of  the 
mourners.  I  can't  describe  the  howl  the  widow  set  up  at  proper 
intervals.  Dash  could,  for  it  is  not  unlike  what  he  makes.  The 
story  is  as  simple  as  George  Dyer  and  the  language  as  plain  as  his 
spouse.  The  burly  old  Duke  of  Norfolk,  a  nobleman,  every  stun  of 
him.  We  are  in  the  last  ages  of  the  world,  when  St.  Paul  prophesied 
that  women  should  be  '  headstrong,  lovers  of  their  own  wills,  having 
albums.'  Has  Mrs.  He-mans  (double  masculine)  done  anything 
pretty  lately?  Cats,  put  'em  on  a  rug  before  the  fire,  wink  their 
eyes  up,  and  then  purr,  which  is  their  poetry." 

And  so  one  might  quote  on  and  on.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Words- 
worth called  Lamb  the  frolic  and  the  gentle?  And  yet  extracts  do  him 
scant  justice.  His  letters  need  to  be  read  entire.  In  lieu  thereof, 
look  into  a  few  of  them.  In  8  you  will  find  tragedy.  In  56  he  runs 
riot  in  airy  persiflage  about  George  Dyer,  the  old  dramatists,  and 
mathematics.  In  59  he  invites  the  friendly,  the  mathematical  Man- 
ning, to  visit  him;  surely  no  mortal  could  resist  the  enticement  of 
that  note.  In  78,  to  Wordsworth,  he  chants  the  charms  of  London  as 
superior  to  those  of  the  lakes  and  mountains  of  Cumberland.  In  188 
he  moralizes  on  the  coxcombry  of  taught  charity.  In  240  he  tells  of 
his  manumission  on  a  pension  of  441  pounds  from  the  slavery  of 
Leadenhall  Street.  In  285  he  relates  with  mingled  pathos  and  humor 
the  life,  works,  and  death  of  old  Norris,  the  librarian  of  the  Temple. 
In  196  he  tells,  in  a  fashion  that  teachers  and  pupils  must  like,  how 
he  taught,  or  rather  did  not  teach,  Latin  to  Emma.  Dogs,  or  rather 
his  dog  Dash,  are  the  theme  of  307. 

Lamb  was  also  a  poet  in  a  small  way.  His  "  Farewell  to  Tobacco  " 
is  rich  in  fancies  and  in  images,  while  in  "  When  maidens  such  as 
Hester  die  "  there  is  real  pathos.  His  best  and  most  familiar  verses, 
however,  are  these: 

"  I  have  had  playmates,  I  have  had  companions, 
In  the  days  of  my  childhood,  in  my  joyful  school  days- 
All,  all  are  gone,  the  old  familiar  faces. 


372  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  How  some  tliey  have  died,  and  some  they  have  left  me, 
And  some  are  taken  from  me,  all  are  departed ; 
All,  all  are  gone,  the  old  familiar  faces." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  do  you  know^  of  Lamb's  family  life;  how  is  it  reflected  in  his 

essays? 

2.  Who  was  Lamb's  most  famous  school  companion? 

3.  Aside  from  his  essays,  upon  what  form  of  literature  rests  Lamb's  fame? 

4.  In  what  period  of  English  literature  did  he  succeed  in  awakening  an 

interest? 

5.  Read  "  Dream  Children  "  and  write  one  hundred  words  upon  its  literary 

quality. 

6.  Who  was  Elia? 

7-  "Writing  was  Lamb's  recreation.  Make  a  list  of  fifteen  authors  whom 
you  have  been  studying  and  determine  in  the  case  of  each  whether  he 
made  literature  his  profession  or  recreation. 

8.  Imitating  Lamb's  form  of  treatment,  write  an  essay  of  two  hundred 

words  upon  his  character. 

9.  Tell  the  class  Lamb's  mode  of  life.     Does  it  correspond  to  our  auto- 

mobile-and-express-train  existence  ? 
10.  Write  two  hundred  words,  comparing  the  appeal  of  Lamb's  essays  with 
that  of  any  other  man  whom  you  have  studied. 

Suggested  Readings. — In  "  Poor  Relations,"  "  Oxford  in  the  Vaca- 
tion," "  Dream  Children,"  "  The  Praise  of  Chimney  Sweeps,"  and  in  any 
of  his  letters  that  you  may  ol)tain  in  the  library  you  will  find  out  more  about 
Charles  Lamb  than  you  will  in  any  book  written  by  some  one  else  about 
him. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

LORD  BYRON  (1788-1824) 

"  A  person  of  the  most  consummate  genius." — Shelley. 
"  The  teeth-grinding,  glass-eyed,  lone  Caloyer." — Carlylc. 

Lord  Byron  was  born  January  22,  1788,  in  London.  He  was 
descended  from  a  family  of  Norse  pirates,  who  had  come  over  with 
William  the  Conqueror,  who  had  received  the  Priory  of  Newstead 
from  Henry  VIII,  who  had  fought  bravely  for  Charles  II  against 
Cromwell,  and  among  whom  in  the  eighteenth  century  had  been  a 
distinguished  sailor,  John  Byron,  who  was  known  as  "  Foul-weather 
Jack."  Byron's  father  was  a  spendthrift  and  abandoned  his  wife  and 
child.  There  may  have  been  some  excuse  for  this,  as  she  was  a 
woman  of  violent  temper  and  singularly  unfortunate  lack  of  judg- 
ment. Her  own  son  admitted  that  she  was  a  fool.  On  one  occasion 
she  flung  a  poker  at  his  head  and  she  finally  died  in  a  paroxysm  of 
rage  caused  by  reading  an  upholsterer's  bill.  Her  son  inherited  the 
temperament  of  his  mother,  his  father's  morals,  a  head  the  beauty  of 
which  artists  loved  to  copy,  and  a  foot  the  deformity  of  which  beggars 
in  the  street  mimicked.  The  result  was  that,  throughout  his  life, 
though  he  was  one  of  the  most  gifted,  he  was  also  one  of  the  unhappiest 
of  men. 

His  secondary  education  was  at  Harrow,  whither  he  was  sent  180L 
Here  he  became  proficient  with  his  fists,  played  on  the  cricket  team, 
obtained  a  smattering  of  German,  learned  to  read  French,  and  mas- 
tered Italian.  He  was  also  a  great  reader,  consuming  much  history 
and  biography,  some  philosophy,  a  little  divinity,  all  the  novels  then 
extant,  some  good  Greek  and  many  mediocre  English  orators,  and  all 
of  the  poets.  He  fought  George  Sinclair's  battles  and  George  in  return 
did  his  school  exercises.  He  was  entered  at  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, 1805,  and  took  his  degrer  1808.  At  Trinity  his  most  note- 
worthy exploits  were  to  introduce  a  tame  bear  as  a  candidate  for  a 
fellowship,  which  pleased  the  faculty  not,  and  to  publish  a  book  of 

373 


374 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


verses  called  "  Hours  of  Idleness,"  which  were  just  good  enough  to 
attract  the  attention  of  Lord  Brougham  and  just  bad  enough  to  cause 
him  to  publish  a  scathing  criticism  of  them  in  the  "  Edinburgh 
Review." 

This  event  roused  in  Byron  all  the  fury  of  the  old  Viking  blood 
that  filled  his  veins.  For  a  year  he  studied  Pope  and  then  launched 
at  his  tormentor  an  imitation  of  the  "  Dunciad  "  called  "  English 


LORD  BYRON 

1788— 1824 

From  the  portrait  by  R.  Westall. 

Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers."  Though  far  inferior  in  wit  and  vigor 
to  its  original,  it  served  its  purpose  well.  Nobody  thereafter  ventured 
to  doubt  its  author's  ability  to  sting.  Such  couplets  as  these  stick 
like  burrs  in  the  memory: 

"Prepare  for  rhyme!     I'll  oublish,  right  or  wrong; 
Fools  are  my  theme.     Let  satire  be  my  song." 


LORD  BYRON  375 

"  'Tis  pleasant,  sure,  to  see  one's  name  in  print ; 
A  book's  a  book,  although  there's  nothing  in't." 

"  With  just  enough  of  learning  to  misquote." 

"  O  Amos  Cottle !    Phoebus,  what  a  name !  " 

Byron,  indeed,  spent  most  of  his  remaining  years  in  explaining  that 
youth  and  anger  instead  of  judgment  had  dictated  the  insults  to  Scott, 
Wordsworth,  and  Coleridge  contained  in  the  poem,  but  nobody  there- 
after referred  to  his  writings  with  contempt. 

He  celebrated  his  emancipation  from  Cambridge  by  entertaining 
a  number  of  choice  spirits  at  Newstead,  where  they  entered  the  man- 
sion between  a  bear  and  a  wolf  amid  a  volley  of  pistol  shots;  sat  up 
all  night  talking  philosophy,  politics,  and  poetry;  drank  from  a  human 
skull;  breakfasted  at  two  in  the  afternoon;  read,  fenced,  rode, 
cricketed,  sailed,  played  with  the  bear,  and  teased  the  wolf.  He  then 
went  abroad,  travelling  for  two  years  in  Spain,  Greece,  and  Turkey. 
In  Spain  he  had  several  interesting  flirtations;  in  the  Troad  he  shot 
snipes  and  visited  the  tomb  of  Achilles;  he  swam  the  Hellespont, 
as  Leander  had,  a  feat  of  which  he  was  inordinately  proud;  he  had  as 
host  in  Turkey  a  poisoner  and  an  assassin.  Finally  he  settled  down 
for  a  long  visit  in  Athens,  where  he  liked  the  history,  the  climate,  and 
at  least  one  of  the  ladies,  to  whom  he  addressed  the  famous  song 
beginning: 

"  Maid  of  Athens,  ere  we  part, 

Give,  oh  give,  me  back  my  heart. 

Or,  since  that  has  left  my  breast, 

Keep  it  now  and  take  the  rest. 

Hear   my   vow   before   I   go, 

Zw7  /«o(',  aag  aymru, 

(Zoe  mou,  sas  agapo) 

(Life  of  mine,  thee  I  love). 

He  returned  to  England  in  1811,  bringing  with  him  a  sort  of  poetic 
diary  of  his  travels,  written  in  Spenserian  stanzas,  which  was  published 
February,  1812,  under  the  title  of  "  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage." 

"  Harold  "  captivated  the  public.  As  Byron  himself  said,  he  woke 
up  one  morning  and  found  himself  famous.  The  poem  ran  through 
seven  editions  in  four  weeks.  Its  early  popularity  has  had  no  parallel 
among  English  poems  save  Pope's  Homer,  Burns's  second  volume,  and 
Scott's  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel."     Picturesque,  powerful,  and  elo- 


376  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

quent,  it  opened  up  a  field  of  description  new  to  English  readers. 
Many  of  its  sonorous  lines  speedily  became  and  still  remain  part  and 
parcel  of  the  language.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  public  was  delighted 
with  such  verses  as  these: 

"  O  Christ !  it  is  a  goodly  sight  to  see  _ 

What  heaven  hath  done  for  this  dehcious  land  (bpain). 

Canto  I.    Stanza  15. 

"  By  Heaven!  it  (a  battle)  is  a  splendid  sight  to  see 
For  one  who  hath  no  friend,  no  brother  there." 

"  Ancient  of  days  !  august  Athena  !  where, 

Where  are  thy  men  of  might?  thy  grand  m  soul? 

Gone— glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were. 
First  in  the  race  that  led  to  Glory's  goal, 
They  won  and  passed  away;  is  this  the  whole? 

A  schoolboy's  tale,  the  wonder  of  an  hour! 
The  warrior's  weapon  and  the  sophist's  stole 

Are  sought  in  vain,  and  o'er  each  mouldering  tower  ^^ 

Dim  with  the  mist  of  years,  gray  flits  the  shade  of  power.' 

"  The  dome  of  Thought,  the  palace  of  the  Soul." 

//.     0. 

"  To  sit  on  rocks,  to  muse  o'er  flood  and  fell. 
To  slowly  trace  the  forest's  shady  scene. 
Where  things  that  own  not  man's  dominion  dwell, 
And  mortal  foot  hath  ne'er  or  rarely  been ; 
To  climb  the  trackless  mountain  all  unseen, 
With  the  wild  flock  that  never  needs  a  fold ; 

Alone  o'er  steeps  and  foaming  falls  to  lean ; 
This  is  not  solitude;  'tis  but  to  hold  ^^ 

Converse  with  Nature's  charms  and  view  her  stores  unrolled.' 

//.     ^5- 
"  Fair  Greece !  sad  relic  of  departed  worth  1 
Immortal,  though  no  more ;  though  fallen,  great !  " 


"  Hereditary  bondsmen  !    know  ye  not 
Who  would  be  free  themselves  must  strike  the  blow  ?  " 


//.     73. 
II.    76. 


"  When  riseth  Lacedemon's  hardihood, 

When  Thcl)es'   Epaminondas  rears  again, 
When  Athens'  children  are  with  hearts  endued. 

When  Grecian  mothers  shall  give  birth  to  men,  ^ 

Then  mayst  thou  be  restored,  but  not  till  then. 
A  thousand  years  scarce  serve  to  form  a  state; 

.A.n  hour  may  lay  it  in  the  dust."  ^J-     °4- 

"  Land  of  lost  gods  and  godlike  men."  U-     °5- 

For  two  years  after  the  publication  of  these  two  cantos,  Byron 


LORD  BYRON  377 

was  the  spoiled  child  of  society.  During  this  period  he  added  to  his 
fame  by  publishing  "  The  Giaour,"  "  The  Bride  of  Abydos,"  "  The 
Corsair,"  "  The  Siege  of  Corinth,"  "  Lara,"  and  "  Parisina,"  which 
are  all  vigorous  Oriental  romances,  full  of  love,  crime,  and  adventure. 
They  were  all  written  hastily,  all  won  instant  popularity,  and  all 
contain  gleams  of  real  poetry.     For  instance: 

"  For  Freedom's  battle  once  begxin, 
Bequeathed  from  bleeding  sire  to  son, 
Though  baffled  oft,  is  ever  won." 

The  Giaour. 
"  Better  to  sink  beneath  the  shock 
Than  moulder  piecemeal  on  the  rock." 

Ibid. 
"  Know  ye  the  land  where  the  cypress  and  myrtle 

Are  emblems  of  deeds  that  are  done  in  their  clime? 
Where  the  rage  of  the  vulture,  the  love  of  the  turtle, 

Now  melt  into  sorrow,  now  madden  to  crime  ! 
Know  ye  the  land  of  the  cedar  and  vine, 
Where  the  flowers  ever  blossom,  the  beams  ever  shine  ; 
Where  the  light  wings  of  Zephyr,  oppressed  with  perfume, 
Wax  faint  o'er  the  gardens  of  Gul  (rose)  in  her  bloom; 
Where  the  citron  and  olive  are  fairest  of  fruit. 
And  the  voice  of  the  nightingale  never  is  mute ; 
Where  the  tints  of  the  earth  and  the  hues  of  the  sky, 
In  color  though  varied  in  beauty  may  vie, 
And  the  purple  of  ocean  is  deepest  in  dye; 
Where  the  virgins  are  soft  as  the  roses  they  twine, 
And  all,  save  the  spirit  of  man,  is  divine? 
'Tis  the  clime  of  the  East!     'Tis  the  land  of  the  Sun! 
Can  he  smile  on  such  deeds  as  his  children  have  done? 
O  wild  as  the  accents  of  lovers'  farewell 
Are  the  hearts  which  they  bear  and  the  tales  which  they  tell." 

The  Bride  of  Abydos. 


"  He  makes  a  solitude  and  calls  it  peace." 

"  She  walks  the  waters  like  a  thing  of  life." 

"  There  was  a  laughing  devil  in  his  sneer." 

"  Slow  sinks,  more  lovely  ere  his  race  be  run, 
Along  Morea's  hills  the  setting  sun, 
Not  as,  in  Northern  climes,  obscurely  bright, 
But  one  unclouded  blaze  of  living  light." 

"  He  left  a  Corsair's  name  to  other  times. 
Linked  with  one  virtue  and  a  thousand  crimes." 


Ibid. 

The  Corsair. 

Ibid. 

Ibid. 
Ibid. 


378  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

During  this  period  he  also  wrote  "  The  Waltz,"  a  savage  attack  on 
that  dance,  then  newly  imported  from  Germany;  an  "  Ode  to  Napo- 
leon," who  had  just  fallen;  and  "  Hebrew  Melodies."  The  "  Ode  " 
contains  a  tribute  to  Washington,  whom  Byron  calls  the  Cincinnatus 
of  the  West.  Among  the  "  Melodies  "  are  several  still  familiar  pieces, 
"  She  Walks  in  Beauty,"  "  The  Harp  the  Monarch  Minstrel  Swept," 
"  The  Wild  Gazelle  on  Judah's  Hills,"  "  Oh!  Snatched  Away  in 
Beauty's  Bloom,"  and  "  The  Assyrian  came  down  like  a  Wolf  on  the 
Fold."  As  a  result  of  his  poetry,  he  met  the  Prince  Regent,  narrowly 
escaped  being  appointed  poet-laureate,  and  became  fast  friends  with 
Walter  Scott.  As  a  result  of  his  poetry  plus  his  peerage  and  his 
beauty,  he  was  besieged  by  women.  To  escape  them  he  married 
Miss  Milbanke  January  2,  1815.  She  endured  his  society  just  a  year, 
when  she  left  him  for  reasons  which  the  world  does  not  yet  know. 
He  was  accused  of  every  possible  and  impossible  vice,  being  compared 
to  Sardanapalus,  Nero,  Tiberius,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Heliogabalus, 
and  Satan.  Feeling  that,  if  what  was  said  of  him  was  true,  he  was 
unfit  for  England,  if  false  England  was  unfit  for  him,  he  left  it  forever. 

He  journeyed  by  way  of  Brussels  and  the  Rhine  to  Switzerland. 
Here,  in  the  congenial  company  of  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley,  he  sought 
in  fresh  poetic  enterprises  to  forget  his  troubles.  Among  other  things 
he  wrote  in  Switzerland  the  "  Prisoner  of  Chillon  "  and  the  third  canto 
of "  Childe  Harold."  Finally  he  crossed  the  Alps,  and  settled  Novem- 
ber, 1816,  in  Italy,  where  he  lived  until  1824.  During  these  eight  years 
he  completed  the  fourth  and  last  canto  of  "  Childe  Harold  ";  wrote 
three  more  narrative  poems,  "  Beppo,"  "  Mazeppa,"  and  the 
"  Island  ";  produced  a  series  of  misanthropic  and  undramatic  trage- 
dies, of  which  "  Cain  "  is  the  best  artistically  and  the  worst  morally; 
wrote  "  Darkness,"  the  most  terrible,  and  "  The  Vision  of  Judgment," 
the  funniest  of  his  poems;  and  put  together  "  Don  Juan,"  a  narrative 
poem  in  si.xteen  cantos,  which  is  richer  in  humor  and  more  accurate  in 
description  than  any  of  his  other  works. 

The  third  and  fourth  cantos  of  "  Childe  Harold,"  which  appeared 
1818,  revealed  Byron's  real  power.  In  the  third  he  takes  his  readers 
to  Brussels;  and  paints  a  picture  of  the  ball  given  by  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  the  night  before  the  battle  of  Waterloo.    There  was  a 


LORD  BYRON  379 

sound  of  revelry  by  night.    Music  arose  with  its  voluptuous  swell. 

Soft  eyes  looked  love  to  eyes  which  spake  again  and  all  went  merry  as 

a  marriage  bell  until  the  cannon's  opening  roar.    Even  then  the  ball 

continued. 

"  On  with  the  dance !  let  joy  be  unconfined ; 
No  sleep  till  morn,  when  youth  and  pleasure  meet 
To  chase  the  glowing  hours  with  Hying  feet." 

The  hurrying  to  and  fro,  the  sudden  partings,  the  awful  morn  after 

night  so  sweet,  the  mounting  in  hot  haste,  and  then  the  battle,  are 

depicted  in  words  that  live  and  will  Hve  for  ages.     Napoleon's  fate 

causes  Byron  to  exclaim: 

"  He  who  ascends  to  mountain-tops  shall  find 

The  loftiest  peaks  most  wrapt  in  clouds  and  snow. 
He  who  surpasses  or  subdues  mankind 

Must  look  down  on  the  hate  of  those  below." 

He  then  journeys  up  the  Rhine,  to  which  he  pays  eloquent  tribute; 
comes  to  the  Alps,  the  palaces  of  Nature;  and  rests  by  the  blue  rushing 
of  the  arrowy  Rhone.  The  fourth  canto  is  devoted  to  Italy.  It 
oeg  nb,  <>  J  stood  in  Venice  on  the  Bridge  of  Sighs," 

and  goes  on  with  tributes  to  Tasso;  Dante;  Ariosto,  the  southern 

Scott;  TuUy,  Rome's  least  mortal  mind;  the  starry  Galileo  and  his 

woes;  and  Rome  itself. 

"  O  Rome  !  my  country !  city  of  the  soul !  " 

"The  Niobe  of  nations!  there  she  stands, 
Childless  and  crownless,  in  her  voiceless  woe." 

"  The  Goth,  the  Christian,  Time,  War,  Flood,  and  Fire, 
Have  dealt  upon  the  seven-hilled  city's  pride." 

"  Alas  the  lofty  city,  and  alas 

The  trebly  hundred  triumphs,  and  the  day 

When  Brutus  made  the  dagger's  edge  surpass 
The  conqueror's  sword  in  bearing  fame  away  ! 

Alas  for  T'ully's  voice,  and  Virgil's  lay. 

And  Livy's  pictured  page. 

"  Tally  was  not  so  eloquent  as  thou. 
Thou  nameless  column  with  the  buried  base." 

He  goes  on  to  describe  the  gladiator,  butchered  to  make  a  Roman 
holiday;  the  Coliseum;  the  Pantheon;  the  Laocoon;  and  the  Apollo 
Belvedere.    Sick  of  the  ruin  he  has  beheld,  he  cries: 


880  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Oil  tiiat  the  desert  were  my  dwelling  place, 
With  one   fair  spirit  for  my  minister." 

"  There  is  a  pleasure  in  the  pathless  woods, 
There  is  a  rapture  on  the  lonely  shore. 
There  is  society  where  none  intrudes 
By  the  deep  sea  and  music  in  its  roar. 
I  love  not  man  the  less  but  nature  more." 

"  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean,  roll ! 
Ten  thousand  fleets  sweep  over  thee  in  vain; 
Man  marks  the  earth  with  ruin ;  his  control 
Stops  with  the  shore." 

"  Thy  shores  are  empires,  changed  in  all  save  thee — 
Assyria,  Greece,  Rome,  Carthage,  what  are  they?" 

"  Time  writes  no  wrinkle  on  thine  azure  brow." 

In  "  Beppo  "  and  "  Don  Juan  "  Byron  abandoned  the  somewhat 
grandiloquent  style  of  his  earlier  poems  and  along  with  it  some  of  their 
gloom.  They  are  written  in  what  is  called  ottava  rima,  the  stanzas 
being  constructed  thus: 

"  I  love  the  language,  that  soft  broken  Latin, 

Which  melts  like  kisses  from  a  female  mouth, 

And  sounds  as  if  it  should  be  writ  on  satin. 

With  syllables  that  breathe  of  the  warm  South, 

And  gentle  liquids  gliding  all  so  pat  in 
That  not  a  single  accent  seems  uncouth, 

Like  our  harsh  northern  whistling  grunting  guttural. 

Which  we're  obliged  to  hiss  and  spit  and  sputter  all." 

This  lends  itself  well  both  to  serious  description  and  to  biting  wit. 
For  example: 

"  For  most  men  (till  by  losing  rendered  sager) 
Will  back  their  own  opinions  by  a  wager." 

Beppo.     Statisa  27. 

"  But,  oh  ye  lords  of  ladies  intellectual, 
Inform  us  truly — have  they  not  henpecked  you  all." 

Don  Juan.    Canto  I.     Stanza  22. 

"  'Tis  sweet  to  hear  the  watch-dog's  honest  bark 

Bay  deep-mouthed  welcome  as  we  draw  near  home ; 
'Tis  sweet  to  know  there  is  an  eye  will  mark 
Our  coming  and  look  brighter  when  we  come." 

Ihid.     Canto  I.     Stanza  12$. 

"  He  was  the  mildest-mannered  man 
That  ever  scuttled  ship  or  cut  a  throat." 

Ihid.    Canto  III.     Stanza  41. 


LORD  BYRON  381 

"  But  words  are  things  and  a  small  drop  of  ink, 
Falling  like  dew  upon  a  thought,  produces 
That  which  makes  thousands,  perhaps  millions,  think." 

Don  Juan.    Canto  III.  Stanza  88. 
"  There's  not  a  sea  the  passenger  e'er  pukes  in 
Throws  up  more  dangerous  lireakers  than  the  Euxine." 

Ibid.     Canto  V.    Stanza  5. 
"  That  all-softening,  overpowering  knell, 
The  tocsin  of  the  soul — the  dinner  bell." 

Ibid.    Canto  V.    Stanza  49. 
"  The  drying  up  a  single  tear  has  more 
Of  honest  fame  than  shedding  seas  of  gore." 

Ibid.    Canto  VIII.    Stanza  3. 
"  Thrice  happy  he  whose  name  has  been  well  spelt 
In  the  despatch :  I  knew  a  man  whose  loss 
Was  printed  Grove,  although  his  name  was  Grose." 

Ibid.     Stanza  18. 

Amid  these  poetical  labors  and  the  pleasures  of  Italian  society, 
Byron  grew  prematurely  old.  Tired  of  Italy,  tired  of  fame,  and  tired 
of  life,  he  thought  for  a  while  of  going  to  the  United  States.  While 
he  was  yet  undecided  on  this  point,  Greece  rose  in  rebellion  against  the 
Turks.  He  had  always  loved  the  oppressed  race  and  recently  in 
"  Don  Juan  "  had  included  some  of  the  finest  of  his  verses  in  an 
attempt  to  rouse  them. 

"  The  isles  of  Greece,  the  isles  of  Greece, 
Where  burning  Sappho  loved  and  sung, 
Where  grew  the  arts  of  war  and  peace. 

Where  Delos  rose  and  Phcebus  sprung. 
Eternal  summer  gilds  them  yet, 
But  all,  except  their  sun,  is  set. 

"  The  mountains  look  on  Marathon, 
And  Marathon  looks  on  the  sea ; 
And  musing  there  an  hour  alone 

I  dreamed  that  Greece  might  yet  be  free. 

"  Earth  !  render  back  from  out  thy  breast 
A  remnant  of  our  Spartan  dead ! 
Of  the  three  hundred,  grant  but  three 
To  make  a  new  Thermopylae. 

"  You  have  the  Pyrrhic  dance  as  yet ; 

Where  is  the  Pyrrhic  phalanx  gone? 
Of  two  such  lessons,  why  forget  \ 

The  nobler  and  the  manlier  one?  r 

You  have  the  letters  Cadmus  gave; 
Think  ye  he  meant  them  for  a  slave?" 


382  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

He  determined  lo  join  the  revolutionists,  crossed  over  to  Greece,  and 
threw  himself  unreservedly  into  the  labors  of  the  campaign  they  were 
waging.  The  effort,  however,  was  more  than  his  broken  constitution 
could  bear;  he  contracted  a  swamp  fever;  and  died  at  Missolonghi 
March  19,  1824,  perishing,  as  he  himself  said,  not  martially  but  marsh- 
ally.  On  his  last  birthday,  January  22,  1824,  he  had  written  and 
handed  to  Captain  Stanhope  some  verses  which  sum  up  not  ignobly 
his  tragic  career: 

"  'Tis  time  this  heart  should  be  unmoved, 
Since   others    it   has    ceased    to    move; 
Yet,  though   I  cannot  be  beloved, 
Still  let  me  love. 

"  My  days  are  in  the  yellow  leaf  ; 

The  flowers  and  fruits  of  love  are  gone; 
The  worm,  the  canker,  and  the  grief 
Are  mine  alone  ! 

"  Seek  out— less  often  sought  than  found — 
A  soldier's  grave,  for  thee  the  best; 
Then  look  around,  and  choose  thy  ground, 
And  take  thy  rest." 

Byron's  fame  has  undergone  several  fluctuations.  In  his  own  day 
and  generation  he  was  adored  by  most,  execrated  by  some,  and  read 
by  all.  Among  his  admirers  were  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Thomas  Moore, 
and  Thomas  Campbell.  Robert  Southey  regarded  him  as  the  prin- 
ciple of  evil  incarnate.  Over  the  young  and  the  susceptible  he  exer- 
cised a  peculiarly  powerful  and  baneful  influence.  From  the  poetry 
of  the  noble  lord,  to  quote  Macaulay's  words,  these  enthusiasts  drew 
a  system  of  morals  compounded  of  misanthropy  and  voluptuousness, 
a  system  in  which  the  two  chief  commandments  were  to  hate  your 
neighbor  and  to  love  your  neighbor's  wife.  Gradually  he  lost  his 
popularity.  A  generation  grew  up  to  whom  his  poetry  seemed  only 
vigorous  rhetoric.  Little  by  little  it  was  perceived  that  Wordsworth, 
Coleridge,  Keats,  and  Shelley  were  all  greater  poets.  Nevertheless, 
at  the  present  time  it  is  generally  acknowledged  that,  in  spite  of  his 
literary  faults,  there  is  much  of  his  verse  that  is  destined  to  live  as  long 
as  any  English  poetry.    On  the  continent  of  Europe,  where  his  pecu- 


LORD  BYRON  383 

liar  ethics  do  not  shock  and  where  his  eloquent  championship  of 
liberty  shines  in  contrast  with  real  tyranny,  he  has  never  lost  favor. 
Goethe,  the  greatest  of  German  poets,  regarded  Byron  as  the  greatest 
English  poet. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  do  you  know  of  Byron's  parents  and  ancestors? 

2.  Tell  of  Byron's  temperament  and  career  at  school  and  college. 

3.  What    was    the    motive     for    writing    "  English     Bards    and     Scotch 

Reviewers  "  ? 

4.  What  had  Eyron  been  doing  the  two  years  immediately  preceding  the 

publication  of  "  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage"? 

5.  Describe  his  career  immediately  following  the  publication  of  this  poem? 

6.  Discuss  the  lines  : 

"  He  who  surpasses  or  subdues  mankind 
Must  look  down  on  the  hate  of  those  below." 

7.  What  are  the  great  qualities  in  "Don  Juan"?     In  what  period  of  the 

author's  life  was  it  written? 

8.  Discuss  in  a  composition  of  two  hundred  words  the  thought  and  stimulus 

you  have  derived  from  this  poet. 

9.  Whom  do  you  consider  the  greater  poet,  Scott  or  Byron ;  Wordsworth 

or  Byron  ? 
10.  What  are  the  qualities  in  Byron,  the  man,  that  you  like? 

Suggested  Readings. — The  third  Canto  of  "Childe  Harold,"  "The 
Isles  of  Greece,"  "  Manfred,"  "  Ode  to  Napoleon,"  and  "  She  Walks  in 
Beauty  "  will  give  you  some  conception  of  this  poet's  strength  and  beauty. 
Roden  Noel's  "Life  of  Byron"  is  an  excellent  little  work;  Edward  John 
Trelawney's  "  Recollections  of  the  Last  Days  of  Shelley  and  Byron  "  offers 
a  most  interesting  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  two  poets. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY   (1792-1822) 

"  The  best  and  least  selfish  man  I  ever  knew."— Byron. 
"  Shelley     beautiful    and    ineffectual    angel,    beating    m    the    void    h-.s 
luminous  wings  in  vain."— Matlhew  Arnold. 

Born  August  2,  1792,  Shelley  was  descended  from  an  ancient 
and  honorable  family.  He  entered  Eton  1804  and  Oxford  1810. 
Next  year  he  was  expelled  because  of  the  publication  of  an  anonymous 
pamphlet  called  "  The  Necessity  of  Atheism,"  an  action  which  cer- 
tainly was  not  justifiable  on  the  ground  of  its  damage  to  religion  but 
perhaps  pardonable  on  the  score  of  its  badness  as  a  composition.  He 
was  twice  married,  in  1811  and  1816.  His  first  wife,  a  silly  girl,  com- 
mitted suicide;  his  second,  Mary  Wollstonecraft  Godwin  (1797- 
1851),  was  a  woman  of  genius. 

In  1817  the  Shelleys  met  Byron  in  Geneva,  where  they  amused 
themselves  by  reading  German  ghost  stories  and  imitating  them.  In 
consequence  Mrs.  Shelley  wrote  her  romance  of  "  Frankenstein,"  in 
which  she  tells,  with  a  power  akin  to  Poe's  or  Stevenson's,  how  a  Ger- 
man student,  after  dabbling  in  magic  and  chemistry,  constructs  a 
monster  eight  feet  high,  which,  being  given  the  breath  of  life  after 
revolting  experiments,  becomes  the  bane  of  his  life  and  finally  drives 
him  to  the  Arctic  regions  and  suicide. 

During  the  remainder  of  his  life  Shelley  lived  in  Italy,  writing 
exquisite  letters,  composing  immortal  poetry,  and  reading  until  he 
became  so  stooped  that  he  could  not  swim.  In  spite  of  the  latter  fact, 
on  July  4,  1822,  he  went  out  in  the  Mediterranean  in  a  yacht  which, 
against  the  advice  of  his  friend  Trelawney,  had  been  built  on  a  defec- 
tive model.    On  July  19,  the  poet's  body  was  found  on  the  beach. 

Morally,  Shelley  was  one  of  the  best  of  men.  Poetically,  he  be- 
longs in  the  same  class  with  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  Keats.  The 
delicacy  of  his  nature  led  Arnold  to  describe  him  with  felicity  as  "Shel- 
ley, beautiful  and  ineffectual  angel,  beating  in  the  void  his  luminous 
wings  in  vain."  The  truth  of  this  characterization  at  once  becomes 
384 


PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY 


38o 


apparent  to  anybody  who  studies  his  longer  poems.  The  first  of  these, 
"  Queen  Mab,"  is  a  work  of  impassioned  reasoning  and  passionate 
rhetoric.  The  second,  "  Alastor,  or  the  Spirit  of  SoUtude,"  reveals 
him  as  a  master  artist.    The  third,  "  The  Revolt  of  Islam,"  says  Swin- 


PERCY   BYSSHE  SHELLEY 

1792 — 1822 

From  the  portrait  by  Amelia  Curran 

bume,  shows  how  Spenserian  stanzas  should  be  written  as  surely  as 
"  Childe  Harold  "  shows  how  they  should  not.  "  Julian  and  Mad- 
dalo  "  contains  the  finest  portrait  of  Lord  Byron  and  the  finest  picture 
of  Venice  in  existence.  The  song  of  the  delivered  earth  and  the  final 
25 


386  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

chant  of  Demogorgon  in  "  Prometheus  Unbound  "  can  hardly  be  com- 
pared with  anything  outside  of  Shakespeare  or  the  Bible.  "  The 
Cenci  "  is  as  terrible,  as  noble,  and  as  simple  as  any  of  Marlowe's 
tragedies.  "  Adonais,"  an  elegy  on  Keats,  is  one  of  the  four  greatest 
poems  of  its  class  in  English,  the  others  being  Milton's  "  Lycidas," 
Gray's  "  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard,"  and  Tennyson's  "  In 
Memoriam." 

It  is  by  his  shorter  poems,  however,  that  Shelley  is  best  known. 
Swinburne  calls  them  scraps  of  heaven  and  shreds  of  paradise.  The 
"  Ode  to  the  West  Wind  "  is  one  of  the  supreme  poems  of  all  time, 
beyond  and  outside  and  above  all  criticism,  all  praise,  and  all  thanks- 
giving. The  "  Letter  to  Maria  Gisborne,"  the  "  Hymn  to  Hermes," 
and  the  "  Witch  of  Atlas  "  are  joyous  and  high-spirited  little  master- 
pieces. The  "  Ode  to  Liberty  "  and  the  "  Ode  to  Naples  "  are  noble 
expressions  of  the  hatred  of  tyranny  and  the  faith  in  republican  gov- 
ernment which  from  first  to  last  characterized  their  author.  "  Are- 
thusa,"  "  The  Cloud,"  and  "  The  Sensitive  Plant "  are  fascinating 
fancies.  But  the  "  Ode  to  a  Skylark  "  is  perhaps  the  best,  as  it  is  cer- 
tainly the  best  known,  of  Shelley's  poems. 

Coleridge,  whose  disciple  Shelley  was,  lived  twice  as  long  as  his 
pupil  but  did  not  do  a  twentieth  part  of  Shelley's  good  work.  How 
good  that  work  was  may  be  guessed  from  the  following  extracts  and 
quotations: 

"  The  thunder  and  the  hiss  of  homeless  streams." 

The  Spirit  of  Solitude. 
"Three  thousand  years  of  sleep-unsheltered  hours." 

Prometheus  Unbound. 
"  Thy  words  are  Hke  a  cloud  of  winged  snakes."  Ibid. 

"  The  path  through  which  that  lovely  twain 
Have  past  by  cedar,  pine,  and  yew. 
And  each  dark  tree  that  ever  grew 
Is  curtained  out  from  Heaven's  wide  blue. 

And  the  gloom  divine  is  all  around ; 

And  underneath  is  the  mossy  ground."  .  Ibid. 

"  Life,  like  a  dome  of  many-colored  glass,  / 

/      Adonais. 
"  Most  wretched  men  ^ 

Are  cradled  into  poetry  by  wrong; 
They  learn  in  suffering  what  they  teach  in  song." 

Julian  and  Maddalo. 


PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY  387 

"  For  Winter  came ;  the  wind  was  his  whip ; 
One  choppy  finger  was  on  his  Hp ; 
He  had  torn  the  cataracts  from  the  hills,  ^^ 

And  they  clanked  at  his  girdle  Hke  manacles.  ^^^  ^^^^^.^.^^  ^^^^^_ 

"O  wild  West  Wind,  thou  breath  of   Autumn's  being, 

Thou    from  whose  unseen  presence  the  leaves  dead 

Are  driven,  hke  ghosts  from  an  enchanter  fleeing. 
"  Yellow,  and  black,  and  pale,  and  hectic  red, 

Pestilence  stricken  multitudes:   O  thou. 

Who  chariotest  to  their  dark  wmtry  bed 

"  The  winged  seeds     ..." 

'  O  wind, 
If  Winter  comes,  can  Spring  be  far  behin^dj^" ^^   ^^^  ^^^^  ^.^^ 

"  In  songs  whose  music  cannot  pass  away. 

Though  It  must  flow  forever."  ^^^  ^^  ^.^^^^^^ 

"  King-deluded  Germany."  j^^^ 

"  Hail  to  thee,  blithe  spirit ! 
Bird  thou  never  wert. 
That  from  heaven,  or  near  it, 
Pourest  thy  full  heart 
In  profuse  strains  of  unpremeditated  art.  ^^  ^  Skylark. 

"  We  look  before  and  after, 
And  pine  for  what  is  not ; 
Our  sincerest  laughter 

With  some  pain  is  fraught;  ..  ^u„„„u*  " 

Our  sweetest  songs  are  those  which  tell  of  saddest  thought.   ^^.^ 

"  Shakespeare,  Sidney,  Spenser    and  the  rest^ 
Who  made  our  land  an  island  of  the  blest.         ^^  ^^^^^.^  Gisborne. 

"  As  the  ghost  of  Homer  sings 
Round  Scamander's  wasting  springs  ; 
As  divinest  Shakespeare's  might 
Fills  Avon  and  the  world  with  light.'  ^^^  Euganean  Hills. 

"Our  boat  is  asleep  on   Serchio's   Stream:     ^_ 

Its  sails  are  folded  like  thoughts  in  a  dream^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^.^_ 

"  I  met  a  traveller  from  an  antique  land 
Who  said  :  '  Two  vast  and  trunkless  legs  of  stone 
Stand  in  the  desert.     Near  them  on  the  sand. 
Half  sunk,  a  shattered  visage  lies,  whose  frown 
And  wrinkled  lip  and  sneer  of  cold  command 
Tell  that  its  sculptor  well  those  passions  read 
Which  yet  survive,  stamped  on  these  lifeless  things, 
The  hand  that  mocked  them  and  the  heart  that  ted. 
And  on  the  pedestal  these  words  appear : 


388  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

'My  name  is  Ozymandias,  king  of  kings:      ^ 
Look  on  my  works,  ye  mighty,  and  despair ! 
Nothing  hcside  remains.     Round  the  decay 
Of  that  colossal  wreck,  boundless  and  bare, 
The  lone  and  level  sands  stretch  far  away."  Ozymandias. 

"  That  orbed  maiden 
With  white  fire  laden, 
Whom  mortals  call  the  moon."  Ine  Lloiid. 

Macaulay,  whose  judgment  of  poets  and  poetry  is  usually  sound, 
says  of  Shelley:  "  The  strong  imagination  of  Shelley  made  him  an 
idolater  in  his  own  despite.     Out  of  the  most  indefinite  terms  of  a 
hard,  cold,  dark  metaphysical  system  he  made  a  gorgeous  Pantheon, 
full  of  beautiful,  majestic,  and  godlike  forms.     He  turned  atheism 
itself  into  a'mythology  rich  with  visions  as  glorious  as  the  gods  that 
live  in  the  marble  of  Phidias  or  the  virgin  saints  that  smile  on  us 
from  the  canvas  of  Murillo.     The  Spirit  of  Beauty,  the  Principle  of 
Good,  the  Principle  of  Evil,  when  he  treated  of  them,  ceased  to  be 
abstractions.    They  took  shape  and  color.     They  were  no  longer  mere 
words,  but  'intelligible  forms';  'fair  humanities';  objects  of  love, 
of  adoration,  or  of  fear.     As  there  can  be  no  stronger  sign  of  a  mind 
destitute  of  the  poetical  faculty  than  that  tendency  which  was  so  com- 
mon among  the  writers  of  the  French  school  to  turn  images  into 
abstraction — Venus,  for  example,  into  Love;  Minerva  into  Wisdom; 
Mars  into  War;  Bacchus  into  Festivity — so  there  can  be  no  stronger 
sign  of  a  mind  truly  poetical  than  a  disposition  to  reverse  this 
abstracting  process  and  to  make  individuals  out  of  generalities.     Some 
of  the  metaphysical  and  ethical  theories  of  Shelley  were  certainly 
most  absurd  and  pernicious.    But  we  doubt  whether  any  modern  poet 
has  possessed  in  an  equal  degree  some  of  the  highest  qualities  of  the 
great  ancient  masters.     His  poetry  seems  not  to  have  been  an  art 
but  an  inspiration.     Had  he  lived  to  the  full  age  of  man  he  might  not 
improbably  have  given  to  the  world  some  great  work  of  the  very 
highest  rank  in  design  and  execution." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Read  Shelley's  "Masque  of  Anarchy."     What  effect  do  you  believe  it 

had  ui)on  the  conservative  England  of  one  hundred  years  ago? 

2.  Who  wrote  "Frankenstein"? 

3.  How  large  a  gap  in  form,  in  thought,  in  subject-matter,  is  there  l^etweeu 

the  poetry  of  Pope  and  that  of  Shelley? 


PERCY  BYSHE  SHELLEY  389 

4.  Shelley  was  a  radical ;  from  your  English  history  discover  the  attitude 

of  English  statesmen  to  radicalism  lietwcen  the  years  1815-1825. 

5.  How  true  an  estimate  of  Shelley  was  Matthew  Arnold's  "  a  pale  ineffec- 

tual spirit,  locating  his  luminous  wings  in  the  void  "? 

6.  Shelley's  note  was  essentially  lyrical.     How  great  a  part  has  lyricism 

played  in  the  poetry  of  the  romantic  movement? 

7.  Compare  Shelley's  spirit  to  Byron's.     In  what  were  they  alike  and  how 

did  they  differ? 

8.  In  what  poem  are  the  following  lines : 

"Life,  like  a  dome  of  many  colored  glass 
Stains  the  white  radiance  of  eternity"? 

9.  Macaulay  said  of  Shelley :  "  His  poetry  seems  not  to  have  been  an  art 

but  an  inspiration."     Discuss  this  thought. 
10.  Write   a  two-hundred-word  composition  upon  the  life  and   poetry  of 
Shelley. 

Suggested  Readings. — "  The  Cloud,"  "  To  a  Skylark,"  "  Ode  to  the 
West  Wind,"  and  "  Adonais  "  will  give  the  reader  ])ut  a  taste  of  the  con- 
sistent beauty  of  this  poet.  Dowden's  "Life  of  Shelley"  is  excellent; 
T.  J.  Hogg's  "  Shelley  at  Oxford  "  is  a  delightful  contemporary  account. 


CHAITER  XXXIV 
JOHN   KEATS  (1795-1821) 

"His  fraj4m<'iit  of  "liyijcrion"  seems  actually  iiis]»ir<-(l  by  the  'I'itaris 
anil  is  as  sublime  as  /ICschylus." — Byron. 

"  John  Keats  was  one  of  those  sweet  and  glorious  spirits  who  desceiid 
like  the  aiigel  messengers  of  <)ld,  to  discharge  some  divine  command,  not 
to  <iwell   here." — I'V.   Ilowilt. 

SoMKHODV  has  said  oi  Jolm  Kc;its  thai,  aflcr  he  grew  up,  he  was 
unable  to  write  had  \}()i-Xry.  He  certainly  produced  some  of  the  most 
ex(|uisile  verse  of  all  time.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  London 
stable-keeper.  His  education,  owing  to  the  death  of  both  his  parents, 
stopped  short  in  his  fifteenth  year. 

He  was  then  a()f)r(*nti(:ed  to  a  surgeon  at  Edmonton,  where  he 
wfjrked  until,  in  1814,  he  removed  to  London  in  (jrder  to  be  near  the 
hospitals.  His  passion  for  poetry  led  him,  however,  to  abandon  the 
medi(  al  profession  and  subsist  on  his  small  inheritance.  In  1817  he 
published  a  volume  of  jjrjcms,  whi<  h  (ontained  the  famous  sonnet, 
"  On  first  looking  into  (  fi.ipui.in's  Hotner."  Early  in  1818  this  was 
followed  by  his  first  hjng  jjocm,  "  luidymion,"  whi(  h  he  himself  con- 
deimied  as  immature  and  which  "  lilatkwood's  Magazine"  anrl  the 
"  Quarterly  Review  "  attacked  so  savagely  that  (he  story  arose  that  his 
death  was  due  to  their  fury.  This  legend  has  been  kept  alive  by 
Hyrcjn's  famcjus  (juatrain: 

"Wh(,  kin.<l  John  Keats? 

'  1,'  says  the  (Quarterly, 

So  savage  and  larlarly, 
"Twas  one  of  my   feats.'" 

As  a  mailer  of  f;i(  1  they  disturbed  him  little.  Instead  of  worry- 
ing about  tlic  opinions  of  (jbscure  hack  writers  or  attempting  to  reply 
to  their  (  ritidsms,  he  ( omposed  during  1818-1819  an  answer  which 
forever  silenced  them.  In  r)ther  words,  he  wrote  "  Isabella,"  "  Hy- 
perion," "  The  l-;ve  of  St.  Agnes,"  "  Lamia,"  several  wonderful  odes, 
a  number  «)f  s(  art cly  less  wonrlerful  s<jnnets,  "  La  Belle  T)ame  sans 
Merci,"  and  "  The  Eve  of  St.  Mark."     In  the  midst  of  these  labors 

800 


JOHN  KEATS 


391 


ho  was  Mttarkod  by  lonsuinptiim,  (luriiiL:;  tho  early  autumn  of  1S20 
sought  rofuj^o  in  Italy  fioni  its  ravages,  ami  after  nuich  suffering  died 
in  Rome,  February  2iy  1821. 

"  Knd>nuon  "  is  a  riMuanee  in  four  books.     IMie  ad\entures  of  its 
hero  are  the  t>xperienees  of  the  jioetie  soul  in  its  seaii  h  for  union  with 


UMIN    KIAIS 
1m.>i\\  tho  i»Mtt.>>t    b\    W.   11  lit  I 


id«Ml  beauty.  Keats's  etTi>rts  to  work  out  this  eoneeption  resuhed  in 
a  poiMu  as  fragmentary  as  a  broken  ilream.  but  full  i^f  beauty  and 
valuabli'  as  a  reeoni  of  the  tumult  of  emotions  and  images  in  a  youth- 


392 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


ful  poet's  mind.     Its  vague  random  tunefulness  is  well  shown  in  its 
famous  opening  lines: 

"A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever; 
Its  loveliness  increases ;  it  will  never 
Pass  into  nothingness,  but  still  will  keep 
A  bower  quiet  for  us,  and  a  sleep 
Full  of  deep  peace  and  health  and  quiet  breathing. 
Therefore  on  every  morrow  are  we  wreathing 
A  flowery  chain  to  bind  us  to  the  earth 
Spite  of  despondence,  of  the  inhuman  dearth 
Of  noble  hearts." 

The  poem  also  contains  this: 

"  He  ne'er  is  crowned 
With  immortality  who   fears  to  follow 
Where  airy  voices  lead." 

In  "  Endymion  "  Keats  had  used  heroic  couplets  modelled  on  those 
of  Marlowe's  "  Hero  and  Leander."  That  is,  the  couplets,  instead  of 
standing  apart,  had  run  together.  In  "  Lamia,"  influenced  by 
Dryden,  Keats  wrote  with  more  firmness  but  less  charm.  The  poem 
shows,  however,  a  great  advance  in  narrative  skill,  it  has  a  sort  of  fire 
that  takes  hold  of  people,  and  it  contains  lines  of  great  beauty.  The 
following  quotations  show  its  power  and  style : 

"  Love  in  a  cottage,  love  upon  a  crust. 
Is,  God  forgive  us!  cinders,  ashes,  dust; 
Love  in  a  palace  is  perhaps  at  last 
More  grievous  torment  than  a  shepherd's  fast." 

"  There  was  an  awful  rainbow  once  in  heaven ; 
We  know  her  woof,  her  texture  ;   she  is  given 
In  the  dull  catalogue  of  common  things  : 
Philosophy  will  clip  an  angel's  wings." 

"  Isabella,  or  the  Pot  of  Basil,"  is  a  tale  of  unhappy  love,  writ- 
ten in  the  ottava  rima  and  transplanted  from  an  Italian  original. 
It  is  a  tragic  tale  told  by  a  master  hand,  but  in  "  The  Eve  of  St. 
Agnes  "  Keats  did  still  better.  It  is  written  in  the  Spenserian  stanza. 
Its  effectiveness  grows  from  contrasting  the  cold,  storm,  old  age,  and 
enmity  outside  with  the  warmth,  peace,  youth,  and  bliss  within 
Madeleine's  chamber.  Unlike  "  Isabella  "  it  is  a  happy  tale.  Among 
its  many  fine  lines  are  these: 

"  Sudden  a  thought  came  like  a  full  blown  rose 
Flushing  his  brow,  and  in  his  pained  heart 
Made  purple  riot." 


i  to  a  ^'- 


JOHN  KEATS  393 

"  And  lucent  syrops,  tinct  with  cinnamon, 
Manna,  and  dates,  in  argosy  transferred 
From  Fez,  and  spiced  dainties,  every  one 
From  silken  Samarcand  to  cedar'd  Lebanon." 

Keats's  genius  is  seen  at  its  best,  however,  in  his  odes.  In  the 
"  Ode  to  a  Nightingale,"  he  writes: 

"  O,  for  a  draught  of  vintage  that  hath  been 

Cool'd  a  long  age  in  the  deep-delved  earth, 
Tasting  of  Flora  and  the  country  green 

Dance,  and  Provengal  song,  and  sunburnt  mirth  ! 
O,  for  a  beaker  full  of  the  warm  South, 
Full  of  the  true,  the  blushful  Hippcrene. 
With  beaded  bubbles  winking  at  the  brim, 
And  purple  stained  mouth." 

In  the  "  Ode  on  a  Grecian  Urn,"  amid  a  score  of  other  perfect  phrases, 

we  find  this: 

"  Heard  melodies  are  sweet,  but  those  unheard 
Are  sweeter." 

The  idea  on  which  these  great  poems  and  the  almost  equally  great 
"  Ode  to  Autumn  "  are  built  is  that  common  things  are  transitory, 
and  that  escape  from  weariness,  fever,  and  fret  can  be  made  only  on 
the  viewless  wings  of  poetry. 

Like  Keats's  own  life,  his  last  poem,  "  Hyperion,"  is  a  fragment. 
It  ends  before  it  is  well  begun.  Written  as  it  is  in  Miltonic  blank 
verse  and  obviously  in  imitation  of  "  Paradise  Lost,"  its  opening  pas- 
sages show  Saturn  after  his  overthrow  by  Jove,  as  "  Paradise  Lost  " 
shows  Satan  after  his  expulsion  from  heaven.  It  begins  in  a  style 
not  altogether  unworthy  of  its  great  model: 

"  Deep  in  the  shady  silence  of  a  vale 
Far  sunken  from  the  healthy  breath  of  morn. 
Far  from  the  fiery  noon,  and  eve's  one  star, 
Sat  gray-hair"d  Saturn,  quiet  as  a  stone. 

"  It  seemed  no  force  could  wake  him  from  his  place ; 
But  there  came  one     .     .     . 
She  was  a  goddess  of  the  infant  world ; 
.  By  her  in  stature  the  tall  Amazon 
Had  stood  a  pigmy's  height :  she  would  have  ta'en 
Achilles  by  the  hair  and  bent  his  neck, 
Or  with  a  finger  stay'd  Ixion's  wheel. 


394  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  How  beautiful,  if  sorrow  had  not  made 
Sorrow  more  beautiful  than  Beauty's  self. 
.     .     .     Some  words  slie  spake 
In  solemn  tenor  and  deep  organ  tone  ; 
Some  mourning  words,  which  in  our  feeble  tongue 
Would  come  in  these  like  accents — O  how  frail 
To  that  large  utterance  of  the  early  Gods !  " 

Not  altogether  frail,  however,  is  this  passage  even  when  used  side 
by  side  with  the  corresponding  passage  in  Milton: 

"  Him  the  Almighty  Power 
Hurled  headlong  flaming  from  the  ethereal  sky, 
With  hideous  ruin  and  combustion,  down 
To  bottomless  perdition,  there  to  dwell 
In  adamantine  chains  and  penal  fire 
Who  durst  defy  the  Omnipotent  to  arms. 
Nine  times  the  space  th^t  measures  day  and  night 
To  mortal  men,  he  with  his  horrid  crew 
Lay  vanquished,  rolling  in  the  fiery  gulf. 
Confounded  thougli  immortal     .     .     . 
There  the  companions  of  his  fall,  o'erwhelm'd 
With  floods  and  whirlwinds  of  tempestuous  fire, 

He  soon  discerns,  and  weltering  by  his  side 
One  next  himself  in  power,  and  next  in  crime. 
Long  after  known  in  Palestine,  and  named 
Beelzebub.     To  whom  the  Arch   Enemy, 
And  thence  in  Heaven  called  Satan,  with  bold  words 
Breaking  the  horrid   silence  thus  began  : 
'  If  thou  beest  he;  but  oh,  how  fallen!  how  changed 
From  him  who  in  the  happy  fields  of  light, 
Clothed  with  transcendent  brightness,  didst  outshine 
Myriads  though  bright !  " 

Keats  died  at  twenty-six.  Milton  wrote  this  passage  at  fifty-two 
or  thereabouts.  At  twenty-six  Milton  had  not  even  written 
'^  L Allegro,"  let. alone  "  Paradise  Lost."  It  is  idle  to  speculate  on 
what  Keats  might  have  done  had  he  lived,  but  it  is  worth  while  to 
remember  that,  at  twenty-six,  he  had  done  more  than  had  been 
accomplished  at  the  same  age  by  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Wordsworth, 
or  Tennyson. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  is  the  meaning  of: 

"  He  ne'er  is  crowned 
With  immortality  who  fears  to  follow 
Where  airy  voices  lead  "  ? 

2.  What  aspects  of  romanticism  are  illustrated  in  Keafs's  poetry? 

3.  How  was  "  Endymion  "  received  ? 


JOHN  KEATS  395 

4.  Some  of  Keats's  greatest  work  is  contained  in  his  narrative  poems. 

Name  three  other  English  poets  who  used  this  form. 

5.  Name   some  of   the  great  Reviews  published   in  Keats's  day  and  still 

published. 

6.  What  aspects  of  the  world  did  Keats  most  cherish? 

7.  Keats  is  sometimes  called  "  The  poet  of  the  senses."     Why? 

8.  Tell  to  the  class  the  story  of  Keats's  life. 

9.  Of  what  importance  do  you  consider  the  thought,  "  A  thing  of  beauty  is 

a  joy  forever  "  ? 
10.  Read  "  The  Ode  to  a  Nightingale  "  and  write  one  hundred  words  pre- 
senting its  beauties,  its  subject,  and  its  philosophy. 

Suggested  Readings. — "  To  a  Grecian  Urn,"  "  To  a  Nightingale," 
"  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci,"  "  Ode  to  Autumn,"  "  Fancy,"  Sonnet  "  On 
First  Looking  into  Chapman's  Homer,"  Sonnet  commencing  "  When  I  have 
fears  that  I  may  cease  to  be,"  and  "  St.  Agnes's  Eve  "  should  all  be  read. 
Rossetti's  "  Life  of  Keats  "  takes  its  place  as  worthy  collateral  reading. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

OTHER  EARLY  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  WRITERS 

"  Mv  dear  Rogers,  if  we  were  both  in  America,  we  should  be  tarred 
and  feathered,  and,  lovely  as  we  are  by  nature,  I  should  be  an  ostrich  and 
you  an  emu." — Sidney  Smith. 

"Though  Nature's  sternest  painter,  yet  the  best." — Byron  (of  CrabbeJ. 

"  When  I  repeated  '  Hohenlinden '  to  Leyden,  he  said, '  Dash  it,  man,  tell 
the  fellow  I  hate  him ;  but,  dash  it,  he  has  written  the  finest  verses  that  have 
been  published  these  fifty  years." — Sir  Jl'alter  Scott. 

"  Of  all  the  song-writers  that  ever  warbled,  or  chanted,  or  sung,  the 
best,  in  our  estimation,  is  verily  none  other  than  Thomas  Moore." 

— Professor  JVilson. 

George  Crabbe  (1754—1832),  after  a  hard  youth,  attracted  the 
notice  of  Edmund  Burke,  and  through  his  influence  became  a  happy 
country  curate  and  a  popular  poet.  "  The  Village "  and  "  The 
Parish  Register  "  are  his  best  works.  In  them,  he  depicts  the  rural 
life  of  his  day  with  such  fidelity  and  success  that  Byron  called  him 
"  Nature's  sternest  painter,  yet  the  best."  His  usual  metre  is  the 
heroic  couplet  modelled  on  Pope's.  Horace  Smith  indeed  called  him  a 
Pope  in  worsted  stockings.  Within  his  field  Crabbe  is  a  powerful 
and  genuine  poet. 

William  Blake  (1757-1827)  has  been  finely  called  the  first  who 
burst  into  that  silent  sea  of  imaginative  poetry  that  was  unknown  to 
readers  of  Pope.  His  "  Poetical  Sketches  "  were  written  between 
1768  and  1777,  five  years  before  the^ublication  of  Cowper's  "  Poems," 
nine  before  Burns's,  and  fifteen  before  "  The  Lyrical  Ballads  "  of 
Wordsworth  and  Coleridge.  It  is  probable  that  Blake  was  the  poetical 
preceptor  of  both  the  last-named  bards.  x'\t  all  events,  Wordsworth 
wrote  of  him:  "  His  poems  undoubtedly  are  the  production  of  insane 
genius,  but  there  is  something  in  the  madness  of  this  man  that  inter- 
ests me  more  than  the  sanity  of  Lord  Byron  and  Walter  Scott."  Blake 
died  unknown,  yet  in  his  "  Songs  of  Innocence  "  he  left  the  world  a 
priceless  book.  To  this  day  it  remains  the  best  of  all  volumes  of 
S06 


EARLY  WRITERS 


397 


children's  poetry.  To  its  songs  may  be  traced  the  beginnings  of  the 
modern  reverence  for  childhood.  Ever\'  student  of  English  literature 
should  copy  into  his  notebook,  or,  better,  learn  by  heart,  "  The  Intro- 
duction to  Songs  of  Innocence,"  "  Infant  Joy,"  "  Infant  Sorrow," 
and  ''  The  Tiger." 

Samuel  Rogers  (1763-1855)  was  at  once  a  rich  banker,  a  man  of 
the  world,  and  a  popular  poet.  His  chief  works  were  "  The  Pleasures 
of  Memory  "  1792,  "  Human  Life  "  1819,  and  "  Italy  "  1822.     Of 


WILLIAM  BLAKE 

1757 — 1827 
■  From  the  portrait  by   Thomas  Phillips 

the  first,  fifteen  editions  were  required  before  1806.  The  first  and  sec- 
ond were  written  in  heroic  couplets,  the  third  in  blank  verse.  Rogers 
believed  in  making  haste  slowly ;  it  took  him  nine  years  to  write  his 
"  Pleasures  of  ]\Iemor>%"  nine  to  finish  his  "  Human  Life,"  and  six- 
teen to  complete  his  "  Italy."  To  authors  in  distress  he  was  a 
generous  patron,  to  those  in  prosperity  a  jovial  host.    He  was  noted 


398  ENGLISH  LITERATLTIE 

for  his  wit.  When  somebody  said  that  a  certain  loquacious  fellow 
was  growing  deaf,  he  said:  "  It  is  from  want  of  practice."  \Mien  a 
member  of  parliament  criticized  him,  he  wrote: 

"  Ward  has  no  heart,  they  say.  hut  I  deny  it ; 
He  has  a  heart — lie  gets  his  speeches  hy  it." 

In   •  Human  Life  "  he  describes  a  wife  as 

"A  guardian  angel  o'er  his  life  presiding. 
Doubling  his  pleasures  and  his  cares  dividing." 

In  one  of  his  short  poems,  ''  On  a  Tear,"  he  thus  states  Newton's 
law  of  gravitation: 

"  That  very  law  which  moulds  a  tear 
And  bids  it  tricki;>  from  its  source, — 
That  law  preserves  the  earth  a  sphere. 
And  guides  the  planets  in  their  course." 

Every  student  should  read  his  story  of  ''  Ginevra  "  from  "  Italy." 

It  is  a  tragic  tale  finely  told.     Rogers  himself  in  the  same  poem 

described  his  own  career  and  character  with  accuracy: 

"  Nature    denied    him    much. 
But  gave  him  at  his  birth  what  most  he  values : 
A  passionate  love  for  music,  sculpture,  painting, 
For  poetry,  the  language  of  the  gods. 
For  all  things  here,  or  grand  or  beautiful. 
.\  setting  sun,  a  lake  among  the  mountains, 
The  light  of  an  ingenuous  countenance. 
And,  what  transcends  them  all,  a  noble  action." 

Byron  admired  Rogers  excessively  and  recorded  his  admiration  in  a 

pyramid  in  which  he  undertook  to  show  the  relative  literary  eminence 

of  his  contemporaries.     Ever>-  item  in  it  is  wrong.     Observe  that 

Shelley,  Keats,  Jane  x\usten,  and  Byron  himself  are  conspicuous  by 

their  absence.    To  reconstruct  the  pyramid  in  accordance  ^^^th  the 

facts  is  a  good  exercise. 

Scott 

Rogers 

Moore  Crabbe 

Coleridge 

Wordsworth 

S  o  u  t  h  e  y    T  li  c   many 

About  a  hundred  of  the  hymns  of  James  Montgomery  (1771- 
1854)  are  still  in  common  use.  Some  of  his  poems  contain  bits  of 
real  poetry.     For  instance: 


EARLY  WRITERS  399 

"  Hope  against  hope  and  ask  till  ye  receive." 

The  IVorld  Before  the  Flood. 

"  Joy  too  exquisite  to  last 
And  yet  more  exquisite  when  past." 


"  Remembered  joys  are  never  past." 

"Friend  after  friend  departs; 
Who  hath  not  lost  a  friend? 
There  is  no  union  here  of  hearts 
That  finds  not  here  an  end." 

" 'Tis  not  the  whole  of  life  to  live, 
Nor  all  of  death  to  die." 

"  If  God  hath  made  this  world  so  fair, 
Where  sin  and  death  abound, 
How  beautiful  beyond  compare 
Will   Paradise  be  found  ?  " 


The  Little  Cloud. 
Ibid. 

Friends. 
Life  and  Death. 

God's  Goodness. 


"  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 
Unuttered  or  expressed." 

Prayer. 

Sir  Humphry  Davy  (1778-1820)  was  a  great  original  investigator 
in  physics  and  chemistry,  a  good  story-teller,  a  poet,  and  a  fisherman. 
He  founded  the  science  of  agricultural  chemistry;  was  the  first  to 
decompose  potash,  soda,  baryta,  strontia,  lime,  and  magnesia;  and 
discovered  laughing  gas,  sodium,  barium,  strontium,  calcium,  and 
magnesium.  In  1815  he  invented  the  safety  lamp  for  miners.  His 
"  Salmonia,  or  Days  of  Fly-fishing,"  is  an  excellent  imitation  of  Izaak 
Walton. 

In  1799  there  was  published  in  Edinburgh  a  poem  called  the 
"  Pleasures  of  Hope,"  which  contained  this  passage  about  Poland: 

"  Oh,  bloodiest  picture  in  the  book  of  Time ! 
Sarmatia  fell,  unwept,  without  a  crime  ; 
Found  not  a  generous  friend,  a  pitying  foe, 
Strength  in  her  arms,  nor  mercy  in  her  woe  ! 
Dropped  from  her  nerveless  grasp  the  shattered  spear. 
Closed  her  bright  eye,  and  curbed  her  high  career : 
Hope,  for  a  season,  bade  the  world  farewell. 
And  Freedom  shrieked — as  Kosciuscko  fell  I 

"  The  sun  went  down,  nor  ceased  the  carnage  there ; 
Tumultuous  murder  shook  the  midnight  air — 
On   Prague's  proud   arch  the  fires   of  ruin  glow. 
His  blood-dyed  waters  murmuring  far  below, 


398 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


for  his  wit.  When  somebody  said  that  a  certain  loquacious  fellow 
was  growing  deaf,  he  said:  "  It  is  from  want  of  practice."  When  a 
member  of  parliament  criticized  him,  he  wrote: 

"  Ward  has  no  heart,  they  say,  but  I  deny  it ; 
He  has  a  heart— he  gets  his  speeches  by  it." 

In    •  Human  Life  "  he  describes  a  wife  as 

"A  guardian  angel  o'er  his  Hfe  presiding, 
Doubling  his  pleasures  and  his  cares  dividing." 

In  one  of  his  short  poems,  "  On  a  Tear,"  he  thus  states  Newton's 

law  of  gravitation: 

"  That  very  law  which  moulds  a  tear 
And  l)ids  it  trickl*^  from  its  source, — 
That  law  preserves  the  earth  a  sphere. 
And  guides  the  planets  in  their  course." 

Every  student  should  read  his  story  of  "  Ginevra  "  from  "  Italy." 
It  is  a  tragic  tale  finely  told.  Rogers  himself  in  the  same  poem 
described  his  own  career  and  character  with  accuracy: 

"  Nature    denied    him    much, 
But  gave  him  at  his  birth  what  most  he  values: 
A  passionate  love  for  music,  sculpture,  painting, 
For  poetry,  the  language  of  the  gods. 
For  all  things  here,  or  grand  or  beautiful, 
A  setting  sun,  a  lake  among  the  mountains. 
The  light  of  an  ingenuous  countenance, 
And,  what  transcends  them  all,  a  noble  action." 

B\Ton  admired  Rogers  excessively  and  recorded  his  admiration  in  a 

pyramid  in  which  he  undertook  to  show  the  relative  literary  eminence 

of  his  contemporaries.     Every  item  in  it  is  wrong.     Observe  that 

Shelley,  Keats,  Jane  Austen,  and  Byron  himself  are  conspicuous  by 

their  absence.     To  reconstruct  the  pyramid  in  accordance  with  the 

facts  is  a  good  exercise. 

Scott 

Rogers 

Moore  Crabbe 

Coleridge 

Wordsworth 

Southey    The    many 

About  a  hundred  of  the  hymns  of  James  Montgomery  (1771- 
1854)  arc  still  in  common  use.  Some  of  his  poems  contain  bits  of 
real  poetry.     For  instance: 


«Hope»P=" 


in  physics  anc; 
He  fouiided  tk  xiaiot 

decompose  potai.  f»k 
discovered  laudiiaE 
magnesiimi.  Ic  :•; 
"Saliiioiiia,orD2rr:.' 
Walton, 

In  m  tiere  r, 
"  Pleasures  oiHca 


for 
Stit: 


EARLY  WRITERS  401 

"  Ye  mariners  of  England 

That  guard  our  native  seas, 
Whose  flag  has  braved  a  thousand  years 
The  battle  and  the  breeze !  " 

Ye  Mariners  of  England. 
"  Britannia  needs  no  bulwarks, 
No  towers  along  the  steep ; 
Her  march  is  o'er  the  mountain  waves, 
Her  home  is  on  the  deep." 

Ibid. 
"The  meteor  flag  of  England 
Shall  yet  terrific  burn 
Till  danger's  troubled  night  depart 
And  the  star  of  peace  return." 

Ibid. 
"  On  Linden,  when  the  sun  was  low, 
All  bloodless  lay  the  untrodden  snow, 
And  dark  as  winter  was  the  flow 
Of  Iser,  rolling  rapidly." 

Hohenlindcn. 
"  But  Linden  saw  another  sight 
When  the  drum  beat,  at  dead  of  night." 

Ibid. 
"  The  combat  deepens.     On,  ye  brave. 
Who  rush  to  glory  or  the  grave." 

Ibid. 
"  Few,  few,  shall  part  where  many  meet." 

Ibid. 
"  The  more  we  live,  more  brief  appear 
Our  life's  succeeding  stages; 
A  day  to  childhood  seems  a  year. 
And  years  like  passing  ages." 

The  New  Year. 
"  Heaven  gives  our  years  of  fading  strength 
Indemnifying  fleetness  ; 
And  those  of  youth  a  seeming  length 
Proportioned  to  their   sweetness." 


United  States,  your  banner  wears 
Two  emblems — one  of   fame; 

Alas,  the  other  that  it  bears 
Reminds  us  of  your  shame." 


Ibid. 


To  the  Ujiited  States. 


"  Your  standard's  constellation  types 
White  freedom  by  its  stars  ; 
But  what's  the  meaning  of  the  stripes? 
They  mean  your  negroes'  scars." 

Ibid. 
"  An  original  something,  fair  maid,  you  would  win  me 
To  write — but  how  shall  I  begin  ? 
For  I  fear  I  have  nothing  original  in  me, 
Excepting  Original  Sin." 

For  an  Album. 


26 


40^2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Charles  Wolfe  (1791-1823)  wrote  one  poem,  "  The  Burial  of  Sir 
John  ]\Ioore/'  which  has  made  the  names  of  both  live.  Every  student 
should  copy  it  into  his  note-book. 

Robert  Southey  (1774-1843)  was  expelled  from  school  1792  for 
publishing  an  article  against  flogging;  at  Oxford  learned  a  little  swim- 
ming and  boating;  in  1794  met  Coleridge  and  with  him  was  infected 
by  a  disease  called  Pantisocracy,  which  led  them  to  wish  to  get  mar- 
ried and  found  in  Pennsylvania  a  community  in  which  all  goods  should 
be  held  in  common;  tried  to  master  medicine  but  could  not  endure 
the  dissecting  room;  failed  at  law  because  it  was  too  dry;  settled  1803 
at  Keswick  in  the  Lake  Country;  published  over  a  hundred  volumes, 
not  to  mention  over  a  hundred  mxagazine  articles;  supported  his  own 
family  and  Coleridge's;  was  appointed  poet-laureate  1813;  collected 
a  library  of  14,000  volumes;  and  died  worth  12,000  pounds.  There 
have  been  better  poets  than  he  was,  but  no  poet  was  ever  a  better 
man.  His  literary  fame  rests  on  his  "  Life  of  Nelson  ";  on  a  few  short 
poems,  of  which  the  best  is  "  The  Battle  of  Blenheim,"  an  immortal 
sermon  against  the  folly  of  war;  and  on  the  fact  that  he  succeeded 
in  exciting  the  enmity  of  Lord  Byron.  Of  Southey's  long  poems, 
Byron  said:  "  They  will  be  read  when  Homer  and  Virgil  are  forgotten, 
but  not  till  then."  Of  the  personal  appearance  of  the  unlucky  bard, 
the  noble  lord  wrote:  "  To  have  his  head  and  shoulders  I  would 
almost  be  willing  to  have  written  his  sapphics."  In  1821  Southey 
as  poet-laureate  wrote  a  piece  called  "  The  Vision  of  Judgment,"  in 
which  he  described,  with  excellent  intentions  but  a  ludicrous  lack  of 
poetical  or  comon  sense,  how  George  III  was  received  in  Heaven. 
Byron  thereupon  composed  a  "  Vision  of  Judgment  "  of  his  own  for 
the  purpose  of  heaping  ridicule  on  Southey,  relating  irreverently  and 
wittily  how  George  applied  for  admission  to  Heaven,  how  a  fierce 
debate  arose  between  devils  and  angels  for  possession  of  the  monarch, 
how  Southey  was  asked  to  assist  in  the  deliberations,  how  he  pro- 
ceeded to  do  so  by  reading  his  own  poem  on  the  subject,  how  St.  Peter 
thereupon  knocked  him  down  with  his  keys,  how  he  fell  like  Phaethon 
into  his  lake  at  Keswick,  and  how  in  the  confusion  the  old  king  slipped 
unnoticed  into  Heaven.     The  poem  ends  with  this  couplet: 

"  And  when  the  tumult  dwindled  to  a  calm, 
I  left  him  practising  the  hundredth  psalm." 


EARLY  WRITERS  403 

To  the  roar  of  laughter  which  greeted  this  satire,  Southey  replied  not 
ineffectually  by  describing  Byrrtn  as  high  priest  of  the  Satanic  school, 
a  name  which  stuck.  Some  of  Southey 's  poems,  however,  are  distin- 
guished by  admirable  feeling,  others  by  equally  admirable  humor. 
To  get  an  adequate  idea  of  the  latter  one  should  read  "  The  Cataract 
of  Lodore,"  ''  The  Devirs  Walk,"  and  "  The  March  to  Moscow." 
Of  the  former  one  passage  from  "  The  Curse  of  Kehama  "  is  sufficient 

proof: 

"They  sin  wlio  tell  us  Love  can  die. 
With  life  all  other  passions  fly; 

All  others  are  but  vanity. 
In  heaven  Ambition  cannot  dwell, 
Nor  Avarice  in  the  vaults  of  hell; 
Earthly  these  passions  of  the  earth; 
They  perish  where  they  had  their  birth  ; 

But  Love  is  indestructible. 
Its  holy  flame  forever  burneth  : 
From  heaven  it  came,  to  heaven  returneth. 
Too  oft  on  earth  a  troubled  guest. 
At  times  deceived,  at  times  oppressed, 

It  here  is  tried  and  purified. 
Then  hath  in  heaven  its  perfect  rest 
It  soweth  here  with  toil  and  care,  - 
But  the  harvest-time  of  Love  is  there. 
Oh  !  when  a  mother  meets  on  high 
The  babe  she  lost  in  infancy, 
Hath  she  not  then,  for  pains  and   fears, 

The  day  of  woe,  the  watchful  night, 
For  all  her  sorrow,  all  her  tears. 

An  overpayment  of  delight?" 

This  age  produced  in  WilHam  Hazlitt  (1778-1830),  Francis  Jeffrey 
(1773-1850),  and  Thomas  De  Quincey  (1785-1859),  three  great 
literary  critics  and  essayists.  Their  writings  for  the  most  part  are, 
however,  too  subtle  and  technical  to  be  understood  or  appreciated  by 
beginners  in  literature. 

Sydney  Smith  (1771-1845)  was  a  clergyman  by  profession,  a 
liberal  in  politics,  and  in  wit  a  second  Swift  without  Swift's  bitterness. 
Along  with  Jeffrey  and  Brougham  in  1802  he  founded  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  proposing  as  its  motto  "  Tcnni  musam  meditamur  avena," 
"  We  cultivate  literature  on  a  little  oatmeal,"  but  this  was  rejected 
by  his  colleagues  because  it  w^as  too  trv.e  and  too  clever.  Like  Swift's, 
his  writings  were  mostly  for  immediate  practical  effect  and  hence  are 
no  longer  read.     As  Johnson  lives  chiefly  to-day  in  the  pages  of 


404  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Boswell,  Smith  s  best  sayings  are  preserved  for  us  in  "  A  Memoir  " 
by  his  daughter.  Lady  Holland,  which  is  one  of  the  most  readable 
biographies  in  the  language.  Among  countless  other  good  things  it 
contains  these: 

"  It  requires  a  surgical  operation  to  get  a  joke  well  into  a  Scotch 
understanding." — Chapter  II. 

"  No  one  minds  what  Jeffrey  says.  He  respects  nothing.  It  is 
not  more  than  a  week  ago  that  I  heard  him  speak  disrespectfully  of 
the  equator." — Ibid. 

"  He  has  been  accustomed  to  live  alone  with  his  grandmother, 
which,  though  a  highly  moral  life,  is  not  an  amusing  one." — Chapter 
VI. 

"  Omnes  ibimus  ad  Diabolum,  et  Bonaparte  nos  conquerabit,  et 
dabit  Hollandiam  Domum  ad  unum  corporalium  suorum,  et  ponet  ad 
mortem  Joannem  Allenium." — Ibid. 

"  Next  to  the  Congreve  rocket,  he  (Samuel  Rogers)  is  the  most 
mischievous  and  powerful  of  modern  inventions." — Ibid. 

"  Does  it  make  the  chimney  worse  than  before?  for  this  is  the 
general  result  of  all  improvements  recommended  by  friends." — 
Chapter  VIII. 

"  I  have  gout,  asthma,  and  seven  other  maladies,  but  am  other- 
wise very  well." — Chapter  IX. 

"  There  are  three  sexes, — men,  women,  and  clergymen." — Ibid. 

"  Daniel  Webster  struck  me  much  like  a  steam-engine  in 
trousers." — Ibid. 

"  Heat,  ma'am?  It  was  so  dreadful  here  that  I  found  there  was 
nothing  left  for  it  to  take  off  my  flesh  and  sit  in  my  bones." — Ibid. 

''  The  frost  is  God's  plough,  which  he  drives  through  every  inch 
of  ground,  opening  each  clod  and  pulverizing  the  whole." — 
Chapter  XI. 

"  The  apothecaries'  boys  change  labels  for  their  amusement.  So 
Lady  F.  takes  Lord  D.'s  embrocation,  and  Lord  D.  rubs  his  leg  with 
her  draught,  but  it  answers  just  as  well." — Ibid. 

"  I  entered  a  room  with  glass  all  round  it,  and  saw  myself  reflected 
on  every  side.  I  took  it  for  a  meeting  of  the  clergy,  and  was  delighted 
of  course." — Ibid. 


EARLY  WRITERS  405 

"  Macaulay  is  like  a  book  in  breeches.  He  has  occasional  flashes 
of  silence  that  make  his  conversation  perfectly  delightful." — Ibid. 

"  In  composing,  as  a  general  rule,  run  your  pen  through  every 
other  word  you  have  written;  you  have  no  idea  what  vigor  it  will 
give  your  style." — Ibid. 

"  I  don't  like  dogs;  I  always  expect  them  to  go  mad.  A  lady 
asked  me  once  for  a  motto  for  her  dog  Spot.  I  proposed,  '  Out, 
damned  Spot!  '  but  she  did  not  think  it  sentimental  enough." — Ibid. 

"  God's  centre  is  everywhere,  his  circumference  nowhere." — Ibid. 

"  Mr.  P.  said  to  him,  '  I  always  write  best  with  an  amanuensis.' 
'  Oh!  but  are  you  quite  sure  he  puts  down  what  you  dictate?  '  " — Ibid. 

Walter  Savage  Landor  (1775-1864),  one  of  the  acknowledged 
masters  of  English  prose,  "  has  a  name  extensively  known  and  works 
universally  unknown,"  said  one  reviewer.  He  himself  declared  that 
he  esteemed  ten  accomplished  men  a  sufficient  audience.  Like  the 
red  and  blue  flowers  in  corn,  caprice,  dogmatism,  intolerance,  and 
arrogance  spoil  in  some  measure  the  real  nobility  of  his  writing.  His 
chief  work,  "  Imaginary  Conversations,"  comprises  nearly  150  dia- 
logues between  Greek  and  Roman  heroes,  modern  European  states- 
men and  writers.  During  his  life  Landor  quarrelled  with  everybody 
except  Southey.  He  was,  however,  a  good  friend  to  boys.  In  their 
behalf  he  said:  "  Nicknames  and  whippings,  when  they  are  once  laid 
on,  no  one  has  discovered  how  to  take  off."  "  Study  is  the  bane  of 
boyhood,  the  ailment  of  youth,  the  indulgence  of  manhood,  and  the 
restorative  of  old  age."  Of  his  poems,  one,  "  Iphigenia  and  Aga- 
memnon," should  be  read  by  all  students.  It  gives,  in  a  few  lines 
of  blank  verse,  the  quintessence  of  a  story  to  which  Euripides,  Racine, 
and  Goethe  each  with  less  success  devoted  an  entire  play.  The  whole 
spirit  of  Landor 's  life  is  compressed  into  these  four  lines  of  his  own: 

"  I  strove  with  none,  for  none  was  worth  my  strife; 
Nature  I  loved,  and,  next  to  Nature,  Art. 
I  warmed  both  hands  against  the  fire  of  life; 
It  sinks,  and  I  am  ready  to  depart." 

Henry  Hallam  (1777-1859)  published  1827  "  The  Constitutional 

History  of  England,  from  the  Accession  of  Henry  VII  to  the  Death 

of  George  II,"  and  1837-1838  "  An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of 

Europe  in  the  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries."    Both 

works  are  so  distinguished  by  solid  learning  and  judicial  views  that 


406  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

they  remain  standard  authorities.  Hallam  was  the  father  of  the 
Arthur  Henry  Hallam  (died  1833)  whose  death  is  the  theme  of 
Tennyson's  "  In  Memoriam." 

Reginald  Heber  (1783-1826),  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  wrote  several 
familiar  hymns.  Of  these  the  best  known  are  "  By  cool  Siloam's 
shady  rill  ";  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty  ";  and  "  From 
Greenland's  icy  mountains." 

Leigh  Hunt  (1784-1859)  was  so  ignorant  of  mathematics  that  he 
did  not  know  the  multiplication  table,  but  so  fond  of  books  that  he 
communicated  his  enthusiasm  to  countless  readers  of  his  prose.  As 
a  reward  for  calling  the  Prince  Regent  "  a  fat  Adonis  of  fifty  "  he 
spent  two  years  in  jail;  as  a  reward  for  his  inability  to  add  and  sub- 
tract he  was  caricatured  by  Dickens  in  "  Bleak  House  "  as  Horace 
Skimpole.  His  name  lives  to-day  chiefly  as  the  author  of  "  Abou  Ben 
Adhem  and  the  Angel,"  a  poem  with  which  every  boy  and  girl  should 
be  on  speaking  terms. 

Thomas  Moore  (1779-1852)  was  the  most  successful  Irishman  of 
letters  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  his  teens  he  won  the  friendship 
of  Robert  Emmet  and  developed  the  talent  for  versification  and  the 
taste  for  music  which  he  was  afterward  to  combine  to  such  advantage. 
At  twenty-two  his  social  talents  and  the  publication  of  his  translation 
of  Anacreon  made  him  the  lion  of  the  best  London  society.  Though 
Moorish  rather  than  Greek,  these  verses  were  not  ungraceful.  They 
were  followed  1801  by  "  Juvenalia,"  the  character  of  which  is  suffi- 
ciently shown  by  one  poem: 

In  a  Lady's  Book. 
Here  is  one  page  reserved  for  me, 
From  all  thy  sweet  memorials  free. 
And  here  my  simple  song  might  tell 
The  feelings  thou  must  guess  so  well. 
But  could   I  thus,  within  thy  mind. 
One  little  vacant  corner  find, 
Where  no  impression  yet  is  seen. 
Where  no  memorial  yet  has  been. 
Oh  !  it  should  be  my  sweetest  care 
To  write  my  name  forever  there  ! 

In  1803  Moore  went  to  America,  returning  1804  and  1806  publish- 
ing a  volume  of  "  Epistles,  Odes,  and  Other  Poems  "  as  the  result  of 
his  sojourn  in  the  new  world.  They  contain  a  good  deal  of  stuff  like 
the  following  translation  from  Martial: 


EARLY  WRITERS 


407 


"  I  could  resign  that  eye  of  blue, 

Howe'er  it  burn,  howe'er  it  thrill  me; 
And  though  your  lip  be  rich  with  dew, 
To  lose  it,  Chloe,  scarce  would  kill  me. 

"  That  snowy  neck  I  ne'er  should  miss, 
However   warm   I've  twined   about  it ; 
And  though  your  bosom  beat  with  bliss, 
I  think  my  soul  could  live  without  it. 


THOMAS  MOORE 

1779 — 1852 
From   the  bust   by    Christopher    Moore 

"  In  short,  I've  learned  so  well  to  fast. 

That  sooth,  my  love,  I  know  not  whether, 
I  might  not  bring  myself  at  last, 
To — do  without  you  altogether." 

The  most  agreeable  thing  about  this  volume,  however,  is  the  fashion 
in  which  the  author,  in  bad  heroic  verse  modelled  on  Pope,  abuses  the 
United  States.  "  Upon  Columbia's  rising  brow,"  he  says,  "  the  showy 
smile  of  young  presumption  plays.    Her  bloom  is  poisoned  and  her 


408  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

heart  decays.  She's  old  in  youth,  she's  blasted  in  her  prime.  She  is 
characterized  by  all  youth's  transgression  and  all  age's  chill.  Her 
people,  poor  of  heart  and  prodigal  of  words,  born  to  be  slaves,  and 
struggling  to  be  lords,  pant  only  for  license,  while  they  spurn  control. 
Only  brutes  call  that  soil  their  home.  Bears  and  Yankees,  democrats 
and  frogs,  form  one  dull  chaos,  devoid  of  soul,  in  which  all  the  vices 
of  the  old  world  are  combined  with  all  the  grossness  of  the  new." 
Jeffrey  in  "  The  Edinburgh  Review  "  castigated  these  outbursts  so 
severely  that  Moore  challenged  him  to  a  duel,  but  happily  nothing 
was  shed  but  ink.  The  year  1807  witnessed  something  better.  In 
conjunction  with  Sir  John  Stevenson,  who  adapted  to  them  the  music 
of  familiar  Irish  airs,  Moore  in  that  year  published  the  first  number 
of  his  "  Irish  Melodies."  These  delighted  the  Irish  without  offending 
the  English,  at  once  attained  a  popularity  which  has  proved  per- 
manent, and  netted  the  author  in  all  about  13,000  guineas.  Some  of 
them  are  still  sung  wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken.  Among 
these  are:  "Go  where  glory  waits  thee";  "Oh!  breathe  not  his 
name  ";  "  When  he  who  adores  thee  has  left  but  the  name  of  his  faults 
and  his  sorrows  behind  ";  "  The  harp  that  once  through  Tara's  halls  "; 
"  Let  Erin  remember  the  days  of  old";  "  Believe  me,  if  all  those 
endearing  young  charms";  "Love's  Young  Dream";  "Nora 
Creina  ";  "  She  is  far  from  the  land  where  her  young  hero  sleeps  "; 
"  O  the  Shamrock!  ";  "  The  Last  Rose  of  Summer  ";  "  The  Young 
May  Moon  is  Beaming,  Love  ";  "  The  Time  I've  Lost  in  Wooing  "; 
"  I  Saw  from  the  Beach  ";  "  Dear  Harp  of  my  Country  ";  and  "  Sweet 
Innisfallen."  Among  the  unforgettable  phrases  which  enrich  these 
lovely  poems  are: 

"  *Tis  the  last  rose  of   summer 
Left  blooming  alone  ; 
All  her  lovely  companions 
Are  faded  and  gone." 

"  My  only  books 
Were   woman's  looks. 
And  folly's  all  they've  taught  me." 

"  You  may  break,  you  may  shatter,  the  vase  if  you  will, 
But  the  scent  of  the  roses  will  hang  round  it  still." 

"National   Airs,"  published    1815,  were  much  inferior  to   "Irish 
Melodies,"  but  contained  "  Oft  in  the  Stilly  Night,"  one  of  Moore's 


EARLY  WRITERS  409 

most  perfect  lyrics.  Moore  in  1813  amused  himself  by  lampooning 
the  Prince  Regent  in  "The  Two-penny  Post-Bag."  In  1817,  in- 
fluenced by  the  success  of  Byron's  Oriental  tales,  he  published  "  Lalla 
Rookh,"  which  brought  him  3000  pounds  and  caused  some  critics  to 
hail  him  as  a  rival  of  Scott  and  Byron.  In  1827  he  published  a 
readable  "  Life  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan  "  and  in  1830  his  "  Life 
of  Byron."  The  latter  has  probably  been  more  read  and  more  abused 
than  any  other  biography  extant.  Among  his  occasional  poems  are 
a  good  many  clever  light  verses  of  the  same  character  as  this: 

"  Of  all  speculations  the  market  holds  forth, 
The  best  that  I  know  for  a  lover  of  pelf, 
Is  to  buy  Marcus  up  at  the  price  he  is  worth, 
And  then  sell  him  at  that  which  he  sets  on  himself." 

On  the  whole  it  must  be  said  of  Moore  as  a  man  that  in  him  sincerity 
and  rectitude  formed  the  basis  of  a  character  at  once  lovable  and  lov- 
ing; as  a  writer  of  songs  he  has  had  no  equal  and  only  two  superiors — 
Robert  Burns  and  William  Shakespeare. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  The  modern  poet,  Masefield,  is  compared  to  Crabbe.     Read  some  of 

the  poetry  of  each  and  discuss  this  comparison. 

2.  What  aspect  of  romanticism  is  especially  illustrated  in  the  poetry  of 

WilUam  Blake? 

3.  For  what  is  Sir  Humphry  Davy  famous  ? 

4.  Name  some  of  the  poems  of  Thomas  Campbell. 

5.  Name  four  great  essayists  of  the  early  nineteenth  century. 

6.  Upon  what  rests  the  fame  of  Leigh  Hunt,  Charles  Wolfe,  and  Robert 

Southey ? 

7.  Who  wrote  "The  Last  Rose  of  Summer"? 

8.  Tell  the  class  something  of  the  quarrel  between  Southey  and  Byron. 

9.  Was  the  early  nineteenth  century  an  age  of  prose  or  poetry? 

ID.  Write  a  five-hundred-word  composition  from  any  point  of  view  that 
appeals  to  you  upon  the  English  literature  produced  between  the  years 
1780-1830. 

Suggested  Readings. — Any  part  of  Crabbe's  "  The  Village  "  will  be 
found  interesting;  William  Blake's  "Tiger,"  "Infant  Sorrow,"  and  "The 
Introduction  to  Songs  of  Innocence  "  are  of  an  exquisite  beauty ;  turn  to 
an  encyclopaedia  of  poetry  and  read  the  poems  selected  from  the  work  of 
Rogers,  Campbell,  Wolfe,  Southey,  Landor,  Hunt,  and  Moore.  De 
Quincey's  "  Confessions  of  an  English  Opium  Eater,"  and  Hazlitt's 
essay  on  "  The  Fight "  will  give  you  an  understanding  of  the  style  of  these 
two  masters  of  English. 


'^'^/^  UcU- 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THOMAS    CARLYLE    (1795-1881) 

"  A  kingly,  a  most   royal   soul." — Longfellow. 

"  Hail,  ye  hills  and  heaths  of  Ecclefechan ! 
Hail,  ye  banks  and  braes  of  Craigenputtock  1 
T.  Carlyle  was  born  in  Ecclefechan, 

Jane  his  wife  was  born  in  Craigenputtock. 

"  She,  a  pearl  where  eye  detect  no  speck  can. 
He,  ordained  to  close  with  and  cross-buttock 
Cant,  the  giant— the.^e,  O  Ecclefechan, 

These  your  glories  be,  O  Craigenputtock." 

— Browning. 

Scotland,  during  the  ISO  years  between  1750  and  1900,  produced 
four  writers  who  demand  the  attention  of  all  students  of  literature. 
These  are  Robert  Burns  (1759-1796),  greatest  of  peasant  poets;  Sir 
Walter  Scott  (1771-1832),  prince  of  romantic  novelists;  Thomas 
Cariyle  (1795-1881),  discoverer  of  German  literature,  stylist,  essayist, 
historian,  moralist;  and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894),  master 
artist.  Of  these  Carlyle  in  some  respects  was  the  greatest.  Certainly 
he  was  the  most  emphatic.  Somebody  has  said  of  him,  with  a  grain 
of  truth,  that  he  divided  mankind  into  two  classes,  the  fools  and  the 
wise,  the  wise  being  the  Carlyles,  the  Welshes,  the  Aitkens,  and 
Edward  Irving,  the  fools  all  the  rest  of  the  human  race. 

He  was  born  at  Ecclefechan.  His  remote  ancestors  were  tough 
border  fighters.  When  asked  if  any  of  them  had  been  hanged,  he  is 
said  to  have  replied  that  some  of  them  no  doubt  deserved  to  be.  His 
grandfather  was  a  carpenter.  His  uncles  and  father  were  known  as 
the  five  fighting  masons,  "  pithy,  bitter-speaking  bodies  and  awful 
fighters."  His  father  he  considered  one  of  the  most  interesting  men 
he  had  known,  of  great  natural  endowment,  gifted  with  the  power 
of  making  word  pictures,  emphatic  beyond  all  men  yet  in  anger  not 
needing  the  aid  of  oaths  to  smite  the  heart,  scrupulously  truthful, 
intolerant  of  clatter,  afraid  of  no  man,  fearful  of  God,  a  man  who 
could  not  be  freely  loved  but  who  commanded  respect.  "  Let  me  write 
410 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  411 

my  books  as  he  built  his  houses,"  wrote  Thomas  in  later  years.  His 
mother  learned  to  write  only  after  he  left  home,  but  finally  became  an 
appreciative  student  and  critic  of  his  books,  over  which  the  two  were 
wont  to  talk,  smoking  together,  in  old  country  fashion,  by  the  hearth. 

His  youth  was  wholesome,  but  not  joyful.  An  insignificant  por- 
tion of  it  depended  on  schools.  A  school  inspector  pronounced  him 
at  the  age  of  seven  complete  in  English.  In  1805  he  was  sent  to  the 
Annan  Grammar  School,  where  he  was  bullied  by  the  big  boys  and 
called  "  Tearful  Tom  "  until  he  forgot  a  promise  not  to  fight  which 
he  had  rashly  given  his  mother.  Of  his  teachers  here  he  said:  "  They 
knew  Syntax  enough  and  of  the  human  soul  thus  much  that  it  had  a 
faculty  called  Memory,  which  could  be  acted  on  through  the  muscular 
integument  by  the  appliance  of  birch  rods."  Through  these  methods 
or  in  spite  of  them  he  learned  at  Annan  enough  Latin,  French,  algebra, 
Greek,  and  history  to  be  sent  up  in  1809  to  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, whither  he  made  his  way  on  foot,  where  he  studied  five  years, 
and  of  which  he  wrote  in  "  Sartor  Resartus  ":  "  It  is  my  painful  duty 
to  say  that,  out  of  England  and  Spain,  ours  was  the  worst  of  all 
hitherto  discovered  universities."  A  diet  consisting  too  exclusively 
of  oatmeal  imported  from  Ecclefechan,  which  laid  the  foundations  of 
a  life-long  dyspepsia,  was  probably  one  cause  of  this  growl  at  his 
alma  mater.  Another  doubtless  was  irrepressible  individuality,  as  in 
the  case  of  Milton  and  Wordsworth,  kicking  against  restraint.  At 
all  events,  he  was  no  idler.  He  distinguished  himself  in  mathematics, 
soon  finding  the  "  Principia  "  of  Newton  prostrate  at  his  feet  and 
later  saying  that  the  man  who  had  mastered  the  first  47  propositions 
of  Euclid  stood  nearer  to  God  than  he  had  done  before.  He  completed 
his  course  in  1814  without  taking  a  degree  and  in  the  same  year 
accepted  the  post  of  mathematical  teacher  at  Annan.  At  Annan  and 
at  Kirkaldy  he  taught  four  years,  when  he  concluded  that  it  were 
better  to  perish  than  to  continue  schoolmastering;  went,  with  90 
pounds  saved,  to  Edinburgh;  and  started  in  to  be  an  author. 

The  struggle  that  ensued  was  almost  as  painful  as  Johnson's. 
He  had  no  friends.  Dyspepsia  gnawed  like  a  rat  at  its  life-long  tene- 
ment, his  stomach.  To  get  bread  he  tried  everything  but  journalism, 
which  he  hated,  and  the  church,  to  which  his  mother  had  destined  him 


4V2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

but  regarding  which  he  had  now  become  a  doubting  Thomas.  He 
wrote  encydopaHlia  articles,  tried  law,  and  taught  mathematics.  At 
one  time  he  was  even  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  translating  a  French 
geometry.    Gradually,  however,  the  horizon  cleared.    He  took  long 


THOMAS  CARLYLE 
I79S — 1881 


walks  ( 50  miles  in  one  day)  alone  and  with  Edward  Irving,  then  a  ris- 
ing young  clergyman  and  always  his  good  friend.  Then,  in  a  happy 
moment,  he  lighted  on  the  works  of  Goethe  and  Schiller,  mastered 
the  German  language,  became  Immersed  in  German  literature,  discov- 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  413 

ered  that  it  possessed  riches  hitherto  unsuspected  in  Britain,  and 
proceeded  to  lay  those  riches  at  the  feet  of  his  countrymen. 

The  first  fruits  of  his  German  studies  was  a  "  Life  of  Schiller  " 
(1759-1805),  the  German  Shakespeare,  which  appeared  serially  in 
the  "  London  Magazine"  1823-1824  and  as  a  book  1825.  It  was  trans- 
lated 1830  into  German  and  published  with  a  commendatory  preface 
by  Goethe  (1769-1832),  the  greatest  of  all  German  writers  and  one 
of  the  live  or  six  greatest  writers  of  all  time.  "  The  Life  of  Schiller  " 
was  followed  1824  by  a  translation  of  Goethe's  "  Wilhelm  Meister's 
Apprenticeship";  1827  by  essays  in  the  Edinburgh  and  Foreign 
Reviews  on  Goethe's  "  Helena,"  "  Jean  Paul  Friedrich  Richter,"  and 
"The  State  of  German  Literature";  1828  by  ''  Goethe"  and  the 
"Life  and  Writings  of  Werner";  1829  "Novalis";  1831  "Early 
German  Literature  "  and  "  The  Nibelungen  Lied  ";  and  1832  by 
"  Goethe  "  once  more.  These  powerful  papers,  with  translations 
from  Musaeus,  Tieck,  Hoffman,  Richter,  and  Goethe,  established  him 
as  the  English  pioneer  of  German  Literature. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  married  1826  to  Jane  Baillie  Welsh  (1801- 
1866),  a  descendant  of  John  Knox  with  a  dash  of  gypsy  blood.  She 
was  a  learned  little  lady,  read  V^irgil  at  nine,  and  wrote  a  tragedy  at 
fourteen.  Cynic,  beauty,  wit,  and  heiress,  she  had  had  as  many 
suitors  as  Penelope,  could  talk  as  well  as  Carlyle  himself,  and,  some 
think,  might  have  rivalled  him  as  a  writer.  For  eighteen  months 
they  were  comparatively  happy  in  Edinburgh.  Then,  poverty  com- 
pelling, they  went  to  live  at  Craigenputtock,  a  moorland  farm  fifteen 
miles  north  of  Dumfries,  which  Carlyle  called  the  dreariest  spot  in  all 
the  British  dominions.  Here  for  six  years  he  allowed  the  dainty 
mocking-bird  whom  he  had  captured  to  cook,  scrub  floors,  mend  shoes, 
and  milk  cows  for  him.  Later  in  London,  it  fell  to  her  to  perform  all 
of  the  unpleasant  practical  work  of  the  household,  including  the  sup- 
pression of  noises  and  the  construction  of  a  sound-proof  chamber 
for  her  lord's  workshop.  She  did  it,  but  not  without  complaint. 
"  Let  no  woman  who  values  her  peace  of  mind  marry  an  author," 
she  wrote  to  one  friend.  To  another  she  said:  "  I  married  for  ambition. 
Carlyle  has  exceeded  my  wildest  hopes,  and  I  am  wretched."  To 
a  third  she  gave  this  admonition:  "  My  dear,  whatever  you  do,  never 


41t 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


marry  a  man  of  genius."  Tennyson,  who  knew  the  Carlyles  well, 
said  that  he  could  not  agree  that  they  should  have  married  elsewhere, 
for  in  that  case  there  would  have  been  four  unhappy  people  instead  of 
two.  In  spite  of  all  this,  Mrs.  Carlyle  was  pathetically  proud  of  her 
husband,  trying  no  doubt  thus  to  find  compensation  for  the  affection 
she  missed,  .\fter  her  death  he  discovered  from  her  journals  that  she 
had  been  unhappy  and  was  filled  with  unavailing  remorse.  As  John 
Xichol  admirably  puts  it,  "  Their  attraction  increased,  contrary  to 
Kepler's  law,  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  square  of  the  distance,  and 


The  ■'sound-proof  .study  m  (  ariyle  s  house  upon  Cheyne  Row.     It  did  not  prove  entirely 

satisfactory 

when  it  was  stretched  beyond  the  stars  the  long  latent  love  of  the 
survivor  became  a  worship." 

At  Craigenputtock  Carlyle  completed  two  of  his  best  works,  his 
"  Essay  on  Bums  "  and  "  Sartor  Resartus."  The  former,  published 
1828  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  still  remains  on  the  whole  the  best 
appreciation  of  the  great  poet.  "  Sartor  Resartus  "  means  "  The 
Tailor  Retailored."  The  book  is  a  richly  humorous,  pathetic,  and 
eloquent  discussion  of  the  philosophy  of  clothes,  purporting  to  be 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  415 

translated  from  the  German.  Its  hero,  Herr  Teufelsdrockh  (Mr. 
Devil-beset),  is  Carlyle  himself  and  the  Hinterschlag  Gymnasium 
(The  Hit-behind  High  School)  is  obviously  the  Annan  Grammar 
School.  Mark  Twain's  "  Roughing  It  "  is  not  fuller  of  fun.  It  takes 
a  long  time,  however,  to  get  a  new  joke  into  the  British  understanding 
and  for  two  years  "  Sartor  "  could  find  no  publisher.  When  it  did 
at  last  appear  1832  in  ''  Eraser's  Magazine,"  one  paper  called  it  a 
heap  of  clotted  nonsense.  "  Stop  that  stuff  or  stop  my  paper,"  wrote 
one  subscriber.  "  When  is  that  stupid  series  of  articles  by  the  crazy 
tailor  going  to  end?  "  cried  another.  So  discouraging  was  its  recep- 
tion, indeed,  that  it  was  issued  in  book  form  only  after  "  The  French 
Revolution  "  had  made  Carlyle's  fame  secure.  In  the  United  States, 
however,  it  had  a  cordial  welcome,  thanks  to  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 
and  the  openmindedness  of  the  American  public,  who,  by  the  way, 
accepted  Wordsworth,  Carlyle,  and  Browning  while  their  own  coun- 
trymen were  still  examining  their  credentials.  As  early  as  1829,  in- 
deed, Emerson  had  perceived  Carlyle's  genius  and  had  visited  him  at 
Craigenputtock,  thus  beginning  a  friendship  that  endured  to  the  end 
and  was  of  both  practical  and  spiritual  benefit  to  Carlyle.  It  was  so 
great  on  the  latter  side  that  Matthew  Arnold  thought  Carlyle  might 
ultimately  be  remembered  by  his  correspondence  with  Emerson  rather 
than  by  his  own  works.  While  trying  to  sell  ''  Sartor,"  Carlyle  wrote 
for  the  reviews  brilliant  essays  on  "  Voltaire,"  "  Samuel  Johnson," 
"  Diderot,"  "  CagHostro,"  and  "  The  Diamond  Necklace,"  the  last 
being  a  sort  of  proem  to  "  The  French  Revolution."  Then  in  1834 
he  decided  that  Puttock  was  no  longer  good  for  him  and  migrated  to 
London. 

He  took  a  modest  house  in  Cheyne  Row,  Chelsea,  where  he  lived 
during  the  remaining  forty-seven  years  of  his  life.  Hither  in  due 
time  came  flocks  of  friends,  distinguished  and  undistinguishable, 
attracted  by  the  matchless  conversational  powers  of  both  husband  and 
wife.  P'or  a  time,  however,  there  was  bitter  economy  in  Cheyne  Row. 
For  two  years  Carlyle  earned  nothing. 

In  the  meantime  he  devoted  all  of  his  powers  to  the  composition 
of  his  "  History  of  the  French  Revolution."  In  this  enterprise  he 
was  assisted  by  John  Stuart  Mill,  who  had  himself  planned  a  work 


^16  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

on  the  same  subject  but  desisted  out  of  respect  for  Carlyle's  superior 
genius.     Mills  interest  indeed  was  too  great.     It  led  him  1835  to 


»  .  !.«>      I'" 


Carlyle's  monument  on  the  embankment  at  the  bottom  of  Cheyne  Row 

borrow  the  manuscript  of  the  first  volume,  which  he  left  on  his  library 
table,  where  it  was  found  by  a  maid,  who  burned  it  as  waste  paper. 
In  the  face  of  this  disaster,  which  seemed  to  cancel  the  work  of  years, 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  417 

Carlyle's  chief  concern  was  to  spare  Mill's  feelings.  He  set  coura- 
geously to  work,  like  Scott,  to  repair  his  ruined  fortune,  and  in  1837 
the  entire  book  was  finished  and  published. 

The  "  French  Revolution  "  has  been  criticised  because  it  is  not 
accurate  as  history.  One  might  as  well  criticise  the  Parthenon  be- 
cause it  is  not  a  pile  of  bricks.  The  reader  who  wants  facts,  statistics, 
chronology,  and  nothing  else  may  well  seek  elsewhere.  But  the  reader 
who  wants  a  great  story  painted  with  a  brush  of  flame  must  go  to 
Carlyle.  His  "  French  Revolution  "  is  a  book  with  two  morals: 
( 1 )  Rulers  who  are  intent  upon  their  pleasures  instead  of  their  duties 
sow  the  wind  and  reap  the  whirlwind;  (2)  Anarchy  is  the  father  of 
despotism.  The  story,  as  Carlyle  tells  it,  is  a  matchless  prose  epic, 
eloquent,  humorous,  pathetic,  picturesque,  powerful,  and  just.  A 
faint  idea  of  its  brilliancy  may  perhaps  be  gathered  from  a  few  brief 
extracts: 

"  His  majesty  (Louis  XV)  has  religious  faith;  believes,  at  least, 
in  a  devil." — The  Bastille.     Book  I.     Chapter  1. 

"  Boston  harbor  is  black  with  unexpected  tea.  Behold  a  Penn- 
sylvania congress  gather;  and,  ere  long,  on  Bunker  Hill,  democracy 
announcing,  in  rifle  volleys  death-winged,  under  her  star  banner,  to 
the  tune  of  Yankee-doodle-doo,  that  she  is  born,  and,  whirlwind  like, 
will  envelop  the  whole  world." — Ibid.    I.    2. 

"  D'Artois  has  breeches  of  a  fabulous  kind.  Four  tall  lackeys  hold 
him  up  in  the  air  that  he  may  fall  into  the  garment  without  vestige 
of  wrinkle;  from  which  rigorous  incasement  the  same  four,  in  the  same 
way,  and  with  more  effort,  have  to  deliver  him  at  night." — Ibid.  II.   1. 

"  '  The  clatter-teeth  {claque  dents) '  snarls  singular  old  Mirabeau, 
discerning  in  such  admired  forensic  eloquence  nothing  but  two  clatter- 
ing jawbones,  and  a  head  vacant,  sonorous,  of  the  drum  species." — 
Ibid.    IV.    4. 

"  La  Guillotine!  '  With  my  machine,  messieurs,  I  whisk  off  your 
head  {vous  jais  sauter  la  tcte)  in  a  twinkling,  and  you  have  no  pain  ' — 
whereat  they  all  laugh.  Unfortunate  doctor!  For  two-and-twenty 
years  he,  unguillotined,  shall  hear  nothing  but  guillotine,  see  nothing 
but  guillotine ;  then  dying,  shall  through  long  centuries  wander,  as  it 
27 


418  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

were,  a  disconsolate  ghost,  on  the  wrong  side  of  Styx  and  Lethe, 
his  name  like  to  outlive  Caesar's." — Ibid.     IV.     4. 

•  Xote  lastly  that  globular  younger  Mirabeau;  it  is  Vicomte 
Mirabeau;  named  oftener  Mirabeau  Tonneau  (Barrel  Mirabeau),  on 
account  of  his  rotundity  and  the  quantities  of  strong  liquor  he  con- 
tains."—/Z'/fl?.     IV.     4. 

"  The  jailer  has  no  room;  whereupon,  other  place  of  security  not 
suggesting  itself,  it  is  written  '  on  les  pendit '  (they  hanged  them) ." — 
Ibid.    V.     5. 

"  The  cure  of  Sainte-Etienne  du  Mont  marches  unpacific  at  the 
head  of  his  militant  parish." — Ibid.    V.    6. 

"  A  patriot  in  liquor  insisted  on  sitting  to  smoke  on  the  edge  of 
one  of  the  powder-barrels;  there  smoked  he,  independent  of  the  world 
— till  the  Abbe  '  purchased  his  pipe  for  three  francs  '  and  pitched  it 
ids."— Ibid.    V.    7. 

"Vanished  is  the  Bastille,  what  we  call  vanished;  the  body,  or 
sandstones,  of  it  hanging  in  benign  metamorphosis,  for  centuries  to 
come,  over  the  Seine  waters  as  Pont  Louis  Seize  (Bridge  of  Louis 
X\'I) ;  the  soul  of  it  living,  perhaps,  still  longer  in  the  memories  of 
men:'— Ibid.    V.     9. 

"  Welcome  the  beggarhest  truth,  so  it  be  one,  in  exchange  for  the 
royalest  sham." — Ibid.    VI.     L 

"  SanscuUotism  (without-breeches-dom)  will  burn  much,  but  what 
is  incombustible  it  will  not  burn." — Ibid.    VI.     I. 

"  What  a  glow  of  patriotism  burns  in  many  a  heart,  penetrating 
inwards  to  the  very  purse!  " — Ibid.    VII.    1. 

"  To  the  blind  all  things  are  sudden." — Ibid.    VII.    8. 

•'  What  was  one  roasted  warhorse  among  so  many?  " — Ibid. 
VII.    8. 

"  In  any  corner  of  the  civilized  world,  a  tub  can  be  inverted,  and 
an  articulate-speaking  biped  mount  thereon." — The  Constitution. 
I.     4. 

"Your  tickets  of  entry  are  needful;  needfuller  your  blunder- 
busses!"—/^>/rf.     VI.     6. 

"  There  are  depths  in  man  that  go  to  the  length  of  lowest  Hell, 
as  there  are  heights  that  reach  highest  Heaven;— for  are  not  both 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  419 

Heaven  and  Hell  made  out  of  him,  made  by  him,  everlasting  Miracle 
and  Mystery  as  he  is?  " — The  Guillotine.    I.    4. 

"  That  fair  kind  head  (Princess  de  Lamballe's)  is  cleft  with  the 
axe;  the  neck  is  severed.  That  fair  body  is  cut  in  fragments.  .  .  . 
She  was  beautiful,  she  was  good,  she  had  known  no  happiness.  Young 
hearts,  generation  after  generation,  will  think  with  themselves:  O 
worthy  of  worship,  thou  king-descended,  god-descended,  and  poor 
sister-woman!  why  was  not  I  there;  and  some  Sword  Balmung  or 
Thor's  Hammer  in  my  hand?  Her  head  is  fixed  on  a  pike;  paraded 
that  Marie  Antoinette  may  see.  One,  in  the  Temple  with  the  Royal 
Prisoners  at  the  moment,  said,  '  Look  out.'  Another  eagerly  whis- 
pered,'  Do  not  look!  "'—/6/fl(.    I.    4. 

"  Man  has  transcendentalism  in  him;  standing,  as  he  does,  poor 
creature,  every  way  'in  the  confluence  of  Infinitudes';  a  mystery 
to  himself  and  others;  in  the  centre  of  two  Eternities,  of  three 
Immensities, — in  the  intersection  of  primeval  Light  with  the  ever- 
lasting Dark."— /6/rf.     I.     6. 

"  There  is  not  truth  enough  in  him  to  make  a  real  lie  of." — Ibid. 
I.     6. 

"  Lesource  exclaiming:  '  I  die  on  the  day  when  the  People  have  lost 
their  reason;  you  will  die  when  they  recover  it.'  " — Ibid.    II.    3. 

"  Tigresse  Nationale:  meddle  not  with  a  whisker  of  her!  Swift- 
rending  is  her  stroke;  look  what  a  paw  she  spreads;- — pity  has  not 
entered  into  her  heart." — Ibid.    V.     3. 

Terrible  as  the  French  revolution  was,  Carlyle  points  out,  at  the 
end  of  his  book,  that  less  than  4000  persons  perished  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror,  which  is  about  the  two-hundredth  part  of  the  number 
killed  1756-1763  in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  which  was  waged  to  settle 
a  personal  quarrel  between  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria,  Catherine  of  Russia,  and 
Madame  de  Pompadour  of  France  on  the  other. 

Warmly  as  the  book  was  welcomed,  for  some  years  it  produced 
Httle  cash  except  for  $2000  which  Emerson  sent  from  America.  To 
keep  the  pot  boiling,  Carlyle  wrote  more  reviews  and  delivered  four 
serieo  of  lectures.  Their  subjects  were  "  German  Literature,"  "  The 
History  of  European  Literature,"  "  Revolutions,"  and  "  Heroes  and 


420  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Hero  Worship."  They  netted  him  nearly  a  thousand  pounds,  but  he 
went  to  the  platform  in  the  mood  of  a  man  going  to  be  hanged.  The 
last  series,  published  1841,  continues  to  be  widely  read.  His  heroes 
are  Odin  as  divinity;  Mohammed  as  prophet;  Dante  and  Shake- 
speare as  poets;  Luther  and  Knox  as  priests;  Johnson,  Rousseau,  and 
Burns  as  men  of  letters;  Cromwell  and  Napoleon  as  kings.  The 
lesson  of  the  series  is  based  on  Carlyle's  growing  distrust  of  the 
common  people,  belief  that  might  is  right,  and  reliance  on  leadership. 

In  1842  the  death  of  Mrs.  Carlyle's  mother  gave  her  a  fixed 
income,  and  this,  together  with  the  growing  popularity  of  his  own 
writings,  ended  his  financial  troubles.  The  next  year  his  interest 
in  the  poor  resulted  in  the  publication  of  "  Past  and  Present,"  in 
which  he  advocated  sympathy  and  paternal  government.  At  the  same 
time  he  was  busy  with  "  Oliver  Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches," 
which,  issued  in  1845,  soon  went  through  three  editions.  In  this  work, 
by  means  of  Oliver's  own  words,  Carlyle  showed  that  he  was  not  a 
man  of  falsehood  but  a  man  of  truth,  thus  reversing  the  judgment 
of  him  which  had  prevailed  up  to  that  time  in  the  popular  mind. 
In  1850  Carlyle  showed  still  more  emphatically  his  growing  discontent 
with  modern  society  and  government  by  the  publication  of  eight 
"  Latter  Day  Pamphlets."  These  in  large  part  are  savage  attacks 
on  sham,  democracy,  and  the  existing  order  of  things.  They  led  some 
to  believe  that  his  philosophy  could  be  summed  up  in  the  phrase, 
"  Whatever  is,  is  wrong,"  while  others  declared  that,  by  disturbing 
the  smug  self-satisfaction  of  the  age,  the  blasts  of  his  displeasure 
blew  health. 

He  was  so  discouraged  by  the  criticism  which  the  book  produced 
that  he  decided  to  cease  railing  against  the  age  and  go  back  to  history. 
In  his  search  for  a  suitable  subject  he  thought  of  Ireland,  Simon  de 
Montfort,  the  Norsemen,  the  Cid,  John  Knox,  and  Napoleon.  His 
choice  finally  fixed,  however,  on  Friedrich  II  of  Prussia,  surnamed  the 
Great,  as  being  the  best  example  in  not  too  remote  history  of  the 
efficiency  of  autocracy.  Bom  1712,  and  King  of  Prussia  1740-1 786,  by 
his  military  genius  and  administrative  ability,  Frederick  raised  Prussia 
to  the  rank  of  a  powerful  state.  As  a  general  he  belongs  in  the  same 
class  with  Alexander,  Hannibal,   Caesar,   Gustavus  Adolphus,   and 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  421 

Napoleon.  At  Rossbach  with  20,000  men  he  defeated  60,000  French ; 
at  Leuthen,  with  30,000,  he  reduced  90,000  Austrians  to  a  mob  of 
3000  disorganized  fugitives;  and  at  Zornsdorf  with  40,000,  he  routed 
60,000  Russians.  His  personal  character  and  private  life  were  also 
picturesque  in  a  high  degree.  Carlyle  studied  him,  as  he  studied  all 
his  subjects,  until  he  knew  all  that  could  be  learned,  reading  an 
enormous  amount  of  rubbish  and  making  two  trips  to  Germany  in 
order  to  master  the  subject.  In  consequence  his  book  contains  no 
mistakes.  Military  students  in  Germany  are  set  to  learn  Frederick's 
battles  in  his  account  of  them.  The  first  and  second  volumes  were 
published  1858,  the  third  1862,  the  fourth  1864,  the  fifth  and  sixth 
1865.  They  were  such  a  success  that  Mrs.  Carlyle  travelled  thence- 
forward first-class,  had  two  servants,  and  was  presented  with  a 
brougham.  Their  popularity  is  not  surprising.  Mrs.  Carlyle,  no 
mean  judge,  called  it  the  best  of  his  books;  forcible,  clear,  and 
sparkling  as  "The  French  Revolution";  compact  and  finished  as 
"  Cromwell."  As  a  specimen  of  its  style  the  opening  paragraph, 
which  is  neither  better  nor  worse  than  many  others,  will  serve: 

"  About  fourscore  years  ago  there  used  to  be  seen  sauntering  on  the 
terraces  of  Sans  Souci  for  a  short  time  in  the  afternoon,  or  you  might 
have  met  him  elsewhere  at  an  earlier  hour,  riding  or  driving  in  a  rapid 
business  manner  on  the  open  roads  or  through  the  scraggy  woods  and 
avenues  of  that  intricate  amphibious  Potsdam  region,  a  highly  inter- 
esting lean  little  old  man,  of  alert  though  slightly  stooping  figure, 
whose  name  among  strangers  was  King  Friedrich  the  Second  or  Fred- 
erick the  Second  of  Prussia,  and  at  home  among  the  common  people, 
who  much  loved  and  esteemed  him,  was  Vater  Fritz,  Father  Fred,  a 
name  of  familiarity  which  had  not  bred  contempt  in  that  instance. 
He  is  a  king  every  inch  of  him,  though  without  the  trappings  of  a  king. 
Presents  himself  in  a  Spartan  simplicity  of  vesture:  no  crown  but  an 
old  military  cocked  hat — generally  old,  or  trampled  and  kneaded  into 
absolute  softness  if  new;  no  sceptre  but  one  like  Agamemnon's,  a 
walking-stick  cut  from  the  woods,  which  serves  also  as  a  riding-stick 
(with  which  he  hits  the  horse  between  the  ears,  say  authors) ;  and  for 
royal  robes  a  mere  soldier's  blue  coat  with  red  facings,  coat  likely 
to  be  old  and  certain  to  have  a  good  deal  of  Spanish  snuff  on  the  breast 


4^2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

of  it;  rest  of  the  apparel  dim,  unobtrusive  in  color  or  cut,  ending  in 
high  over-knee  military  boots,  which  may  be  brushed  (and,  I  hope, 
kept  soft  with  an  underhand  suspicion  of  oil),  but  are  not  permitted 
to  be  blackened  or  varnished." 

Our  Civil  War  Carlyle  failed  to  understand,  as  Samuel  Johnson, 
with  whose  intolerant  spirit  he  had  much  in  common,  failed  to  under- 
stand our  Revolutionary  War.  Not  sympathizing  with  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves,  whom  he  considered  unfit  for  freedom,  he  did 
not  see  that  the  North  stood  for  the  very  assertion  of  Right  as  Might, 
for  order  against  anarchy,  in  which  he  so  heartily  believed.  Accord- 
ingly in  1863  we  find  him  publishing  this: 

"Peter  of  the  North  (to  Paul  of  the  South):  "  Paul,  you  unac- 
countable scoundrel,  I  find  you  hire  your  servants  for  life,  not  by  the 
month  or  year  as  I  do.    You  are  going  straight  to  Hell,  you ." 

"Paul:  Good  words,  Peter.  The  risk  is  my  own.  I  am  willing 
to  take  the  risk.  Hire  you  your  servants  by  the  month  or  day,  and 
get  straight  to  Heaven;  leave  me  to  my  own  method." 

"Peter  No,  I  won't.  I  will  beat  your  brains  out  first!  (And 
is  trj'ing  dreadfully  ever  since  but  cannot  yet  manage  it.)" 

Such  mistakes,  however,  could  not  shake  his  fame.  In  America, 
in  England,  in  Germany,  even  in  his  own  Scotland,  his  position  was 
now  secure.  In  1865  he  was  elected  Lord  Rector  of  Glasgow  Univer- 
sity and  went  north  with  Professor  Tyndall  for  his  installation.  His 
address,  which  was  on  the  "  Reading  of  Books,"  was  received  with 
such  enthusiasm  that  the  occasion  has  been  called  the  climax  of  his 
career.  But  his  joy,  if  joy  there  was,  was  short-lived.  On  his  way 
south  he  stopped  at  Dumfries  to  visit  his  sister,  and  there  a  telegram 
informed  him  that  Mrs.  Carlyle  had  been  found  dead  in  her  brougham 
from  heart  disease  after  a  drive  round  Hyde  Park.  Over  her  tomb 
in  the  old  Abbey  Kirk  at  Haddington  the  desolate  old  man  inscribed 
these  words: 

"  In  her  bright  existence  she  had  more  sorrows  than  are  common,  but 
al.so  a  soft  invmcibihty.  a  cai)acity  of  discernment,  and  a  noble  loyalty  of 
heart  which  arc  rare.  For  forty  years  she  was  the  true  and  loving  help- 
mate of  her  husliand,  and  by  act  and  word  unweariedlv  forwarded  him  as 
none  else  could  in  all  of  worthy  that  he  did  or  attempted." 

Carlyle  survived  his  wife  fifteen  years,  but  neither  friends  nor 


THOMAS  CARLYLE  423 

fame  could  console  him  for  her  loss.  The  Queen  herself  sent  him  let- 
ters of  sympathy.  Professor  Tyndall  took  him  to  Mentone.  He 
tried  to  forget  by  the  composition  of  his  "  Reminiscences  "  what  he 
could  not  forget.  His  charities  were  generous  and  unobtrusive.  He 
wrote  a  "History  of  the  Early  Kings  of  Norway."  In  1871  he 
rejoiced  to  see  "  noble,  patient,  deep,  pious,  and  solid  Germany 
victorious  over  vapouring,  vainglorious,  gesticulating,  quarrel- 
some, restless,  and  oversensitive  France."  Great  artists  painted  his 
portrait.  Gladstone  came  to  visit  him.  From  Bismarck  he  received 
a  letter  thanking  him  for  his  services  to  Germany.  He  growled  at 
Darwin,  at  evolution,  and  at  George  Eliot.  He  made  John  Forster 
and  James  Anthony  Froude  his  literary  executors.  But,  through  it 
all,  he  mourned  for  his  Jean.  "  Oh,  that  I  had  you  yet  but  five 
minutes  beside  me,  to  tell  you  all!"  he  wailed.  Yet  he  was  not  alto- 
gether unhappy.  In  1867  he  wrote:  "  '  Youth  is  a  garland  of  roses  '; 
I  did  not  find  it  such.  '  Age  is  a  crown  of  thorns.'  Neither  is  this 
altogether  true  for  me."  Thus  his  strength  ebbed  until  he  died 
February  4,  1881. 

At  his  own  desire,  he  was  buried  in  the  little  churchyard  at 
Ecclefechan  rather  than  in  Westminster  Abbey.  In  this  request 
we  have  a  characteristic  instance  of  the  same  vigorous  determination 
to  stand  on  his  own  merits  that  distinguished  his  whole  career.  No 
divided  aim  wrecked  his  life.  He  met  and  overcame  difficulties 
far  greater  than  those  which  conquered  Burns.  "  Strange  mixture 
of  strength  and  weakness,  he  preached,"  somebody  has  said,  "  the 
doctrine  of  silence  in  thirty  volumes."  Sham  was  his  pet  aversion; 
truth,  his  passion;  his  watchword,  duty.  "  Do  the  Duty  which  lies 
nearest  to  thee,  which  thou  knowest  to  be  a  duty."  "  Produce! 
Produce!  Were  it  but  the  pitifullest  infinitesimal  fragment  of  a 
product,  produce  it  in  God's  name."  "  Obey."  "  Be  true."  These 
are  the  Key  Words  to  the  life  and  works  of  Thomas  Carlyle. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  do  you  know  of  Thomas  Carlyle's  father? 

2.  Name  three  rther  great  Scotchmen  whose  books  will  live? 

3.  Describe  Carlyle's  school  experiences  and  impressions. 

4.  To  what  great  literature  did  Carlyle  introduce  England  ? 


4.,>i  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

5.  Who  was  Jane  Baillie  Welsh  ? 

6.  Name  six  of  Carlylc's  most  briUiant  essays. 

7.  What  arc  tlie  special  features  of  "  Sartor  Resartus  "?    Of  the  "  French 

Ivcvolution  "? 

8.  Discuss  Carlylc's  belief  in  "  heroes  and  hero  worship." 
g.  Ciive  the  class  an  outline  of  Carlylc's  life. 

10.  Piscuss  Carlylc's  "  Gospel  of  Work." 

Suggested  Readings. — Carlyle  is  an  author  for  youth  as  well  as  age. 
Read  "  Sartor  Resartus  "  (twice)  and  the  first  chapters  from  the  "  French 
Revolution."  His  letters  to  his  wife  are  of  deep  personal  interest;  the 
standard  biography  is  that  by  James  A.  Froude. 


I 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

LORD  MACAULAY  (1800-1859)' 

■'  The   spirited    poet,   the   splendid   orator,   the   brilliant   historian,   the 
delightful  essayist." — Mary  Russell  Mitford. 

"There  are  no  limits  to  his  knowledge,  on  small  subjects  as  well  as 
great;  he  is  like  a  l^ook  in  breeches." — Sydney  Smith. 

"The  Macaulay-flowers  of  literature." — O.  \V.  Holmes. 

Thomas  Babington,  Baron  Macaulay  of  Rothley  Temple,  as  the 
peerages  and  encyclopaedias  call  him,  or  plain  Tom  Macaulay,  as  his 
simplicity,  manliness,  and  perennial  boyish  vigor  tempt  one  to  think 
of  him,  is  one  of  the  wholesomest  figures  in  history.  As  a  man  he 
was  honest,  simple,  strenuous,  gentle;  as  a  writer  he  is  brilliant  yet 
clear,  witty  yet  instructive,  polished  yet  full  of  human  interest.  He 
was  born  in  1800  in  Leicestershire,  but  he  grew  up  in  London  until 
he  was  thirteen,  at  which  age,  in  happy  defiance  of  superstition,  he 
was  sent  away  to  school.  His  father  was  a  crusty  Puritan  of  sterling 
character  and  common  sense,  who  hated  slavery,  uncombed  hair,  loud 
talk,  novels,  and  all  other  forms  of  sin,  weakness,  and  diversion.  This 
worthy  gentleman  knew  intimately  many  of  the  best  men  of  his  time, 
grew  rich  in  trade,  and  waxed  poor  again  in  a  successful  fight  against 
slavery.  Macaulay 's  mother  was  a  Quakeress  and  had  a  knack  of 
telling  stories;  he  said  that  he  got  his  joviality  from  her. 

In  the  days  of  his  maturity,  Macaulay  had  the  good  luck  to  offend 
that  same  Christopher  North  whom  Tennyson  in  his  wrath  later 
immortalized  as  "  Fusty  Christopher."  North  spitefully  declared  in 
those  days  that  Macaulay  would  never  be  anything  but  a  clever  lad 
all  the  days  of  his  life,  a  remark  which  the  student  as  he  contemplates 
Macaulay's  vitality  and  the  fascination  he  exerts  over  boys,  must 
recognize  as  containing  a  kernel  of  reason  which,  rightly  understood, 
may  be  construed  as  a  compliment.     If,  in  his  manhood,  however, 

'  Reprinted  by  permission  of  Houghton  Mifflin,  from  Riverside 
Classics,  221. 

425 


4^0  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Macaulay  remained  half  a  boy,  in  his  childhood  he  was  already  half 
a  man.  His  precocity  was  noteworthy.  From  the  age  of  three  he 
read  constantly,  lying  for  the  most  part  on  the  floor  before  a  grate  fire, 
with  a  book  as  big  as  himself  held  open  by  one  hand  and  a  piece  of 
bread  and  butter  in  the  other.    When  he  was  old  enough  to  go  to  school 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY 
1800 — 1859 


his  mother  told  him  that  he  must  learn  to  study  without  the  solace 
of  bread  and  butter.  "  Yes,  mamma,"  he  replied,  "  industry  shall 
be  my  bread  and  attention  my  butter."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, he  hated  school.     Probably  he  found  that  the  routine  interrupted 


LORD  MACAULAY  427 

the  course  of  his  studies.  At  all  events,  he  would  beg  piteously,  when- 
ever it  rained,  which  in  London  is  practically  every  day,  to  be  allowed 
to  stay  at  home;  but  to  these  appeals  his  mother  always  replied:  "  No, 
Tom.  If  it  rains  cats  and  dogs,  you  shall  go."  It  is  no  wonder  that 
he  preferred  his  own  intellectual  pursuits  to  those  of  the  schoolroom, 
for  the  former  speedily  became  vast  and  fascinating.  At  eight  he  had 
already  written  an  epic  poem,  compiled  a  digest  of  universal  history, 
and  composed  a  paper  which  was  to  be  translated  into  Malabar  to  per- 
suade the  people  of  Travancore  to  embrace  the  Christian  religion. 
Aside  from  his  literary  activity,  however,  he  displayed  the  same  in- 
stincts as  an  ordinary  child.  He  set  aside  a  portion  of  the  infinitesi- 
mal back  yard,  for  instance,  as  his  own,  marking  it  off  by  a  row  of  oys- 
ter shells.  One  day  a  maid  threw  these  away  as  rubbish.  When  Tom 
discovered  the  outrage,  he  marched  straight  to  his  mother,  who  was 
entertaining  some  ladies  in  the  parlor,  and  said  very  solemnly  in  the 
presence  of  the  entire  company:  "  Cursed  be  Sally,  for  it  is  written, 
'  Cursed  is  he  that  removeth  his  neighbor's  landmark!  '  "  On  another 
occasion,  at  Lady  Waldegrave's,  a  servant  spilled  some  hot  coffee  on 
his  legs.  His  hostess  was  greatly  grieved  at  the  accident,  and  inquired 
solicitously  how  he  felt.  After  a  time  the  little  fellow  looked  up  gravely 
and  said,  suppressing  a  sob,  as  we  may  guess:  "  Thank  you,  madam, 
the  agony  is  abated."     He  was  then  perhaps  six  years  old. 

A  little  later  his  mother  took  him  with  her  one  day  when  she 
went  to  make  an  afternoon  call.  While  the  ladies  gossiped,  Tom  was 
busy  with  a  book  which  he  found  on  the  parlor  table.  It  was  the 
"  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel."  Upon  returning  home  he  repeated  page 
after  page  of  it  to  his  mother  until,  from  sheer  exhaustion,  she  stopped 
him.  The  secret  of  the  immense  learning  which  adorns  his  pages  may 
be  inferred  from  this  incident.  To  the  temptation  to  show  off  these 
powers,  his  parents,  happily,  never  yielded.  Tom  grew  up  in  happy 
unconsciousness  of  the  fact  that  he  knew  more  than  other  boys  of  his 
age.  Indeed,  it  seems  probable  that  he  never  found  it  out,  for  in  his 
essays  he  again  and  again  ascribes  such  extraordinary  learning  to  the 
ordinary  youth  that  Macaulay's  schoolboy  is  at  once  the  inspiration 
and  despair  of  every  ambitious  youngster  and  the  classic  scoff  of  every 
callous  pedagogue. 


*4!^ 


EN^L«S«  U 


F 


Mr.  yvinjni 


^<M!t«d  TViwcr  v\^iitepfc 


H^» 


i« 


.,    ^  \ 

x^NZ«lvn    -.. 

Nr*>S'Vr4<t  *x\--  ■ 

4rs  PHiijK'vTesj 

Afiftdw^^-^-c^- 

-.  I  i^>»'"-i»-> 

frs^wJfti   " 

Vfe^OC^? 

M^IWTN"^""*     ■" ' 

pO^STNi^ 

«s  >*^L     V 

^^.-..A       .. 

tC 

Macs'oi&v^  <te\'> 

k*'  -  -'—     ■ 

rt- 

SOv--      >,     --■     c            -,?«g  ift    l1»MMS    V 

-      SJVl 

^N-                . 

:r^  tnde^.  ^*r«:5  v'f-v  v'N^  Vt- 

-  -%-«vrdr 

'ttwrs^    He  5c\^  t<^  ^&v 

It-—- ■      , 

tt'       ^                ..       . 

^iroi  «s  kyAing  )ik^  j^  "jcrmp  n 

•  « 


LORD  MACAULAY  423 

most  trying  occasions  this  kept  bubbling  up.  Once  he  hurt  his  hand 
and  had  to  send  for  a  barber  to  shave  him.  When  the  operation  was 
finished,  Macaulay  asked  what  he  was  to  pay.  "  Whatever  you  give 
the  person  who  usually  shaves  you,"  said  the  man.  "  In  that  case," 
was  the  reply,  "  I  should  give  you  a  great  gash  on  each  cheek."  At 
Cambridge  during  his  college  days  he  got  mixed  up  in  a  political  riot 
on  one  occasion  and  received  a  dead  cat  full  in  the  face.  The  man 
who  had  thrown  it  came  up  and  apologized  very  civilly,  explaining 
that  he  had  meant  it  for  Mr.  Adeane.  "  I  wish,"  said  Macaulay, 
"  that  you  had  meant  it  for  me  and  had  hit  Mr.  Adeane." 

This  readiness  in  repartee  made  him  a  favorite  in  society.  He 
lived  on  intimate  terms  with  the  most  brilliant  and  famous  set  in 
London.  He  was  an  everlasting  talker;  his  conversation  might,  in- 
deed, be  described  as  good — and  too  abundant.  One  of  his  enemies 
called  him  Mr.  "  Babbletongue  "  Macaulay.  One  of  his  friends  said 
to  the  assembled  company,  on  an  occasion  when  Macaulay  was  late, 
"  If  you  have  anything  to  say,  say  it  now;  Macaulay  is  coming." 
Sydney  Smith  called  him  a  book  in  breeches.  "  He  has,"  says  that 
famous  divine,  "  occasional  flashes  of  silence  that  make  his  conver- 
sation perfectly  delightful." 

His  father  washed  him  to  be  a  lawyer,  and  in  compliance  with  his 
wishes  Thomas  studied  enough  to  gain  admission  to  the  Bar  and 
rewrite  the  Indian  penal  code;  but  he  never  practiced.  His  real  voca- 
tion from  the  first  was  literature. 

At  college  he  wrote  capital  poems,  stories,  and  essays  for  Knight's 
"  Quarterly  Magazine  ";  and  in  1825  his  vocation  was  definitely 
revealed  to  him  and  the  world  by  the  brilliant  success  of  his  first 
contribution  to  the  "  Edinburgh  Review,"  the  essay  on  Milton.  Like 
Byron,  he  woke  up  one  morning  and  found  himself  famous.  His 
breakfast  table  was  covered  with  invitations  to  dinner  from  all  parts 
of  London.  Murray,  the  editor  of  the  "  Quarterly  Review,"  declared 
it  would  be  worth  the  copyright  of  "  Childe  Harold  "  to  have  him  on 
his  staff.  Jeffrey,  the  editor  of  the  "  Edinburgh  Review,"  wrote  to 
him:  "  The  more  I  think  the  less  I  can  conceive  where  you  picked 
up  that  style." 

"  That  style!"    What  is  the  secret  of  its  charm?     What  is  there 


430  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

about  it  which  has  made  Macaulay  the  favorite  serious  author,  next 
after  Shakespeare  and  the  Bible,  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race?  The 
answer  is  easy:  (1)  He  is  intensely  human.  He  loves,  hates,  laughs, 
berates  heartily.  (2)  His  works  present  a  singularly  judicious  mix- 
ture of  opposite  qualities.  He  steers  from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively 
to  severe,  with  a  skill  second  only  to  Shakespeare's.  (3 )  The  lucidity 
of  his  style  has  never  been  surpassed.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
mistake  the  meaning  of  one  of  his  sentences.  (4)  He  possesses  most 
of  the  qualities  of  an  ideal  schoolmaster.  He  teaches,  but  he  does 
not  let  his  readers  know  that  he  teaches.  He  constantly  flatters  and 
stimulates  you  by  assuming  that  you  know  more  than  you  do.  There 
is  probably  not  a  page  of  his  essa>s  in  which  he  has  not  been  guided, 
consciously  or  otherwise,  by  Pope's  maxim: 

"  Fools  must  be  taught  as  if  you  taught  them  not, 
And  things  unknown  proposed  as  things  forgot." 

A  noted  writer  on  education  regrets  the  wealth  of  his  allusions,  but 
these  same  allusions,  if  rightly  understood,  constitute  one  of  the  best 
reasons  why  young  people  should  read  Macaulay.  They  arouse 
curiosity  always,  and  not  seldom  convey  information.  (5)  Most 
essayists  appeal  chiefly  to  the  judgment  and  the  reason.  Macaulay  is 
constantly  doing  this,  but  he  is  also  alive  to  the  importance  of  the 
imagination.  Like  all  good  teachers,  he  knows  how  to  make  pictures. 
Critics  say  he  is  shallow,  because  he  does  not  analyze  motives.  While 
Carlyle  shows  us  Johnson's  soul,  they  tell  us,  Macaulay  shows  us 
only  his  ugly  face.  The  criticism  is  just  precisely  as  it  is  just  to  say 
that  the  manikins  used  in  medical  schools,  to  show  the  inner  workings 
of  frail  human  flesh,  are  greater  works  of  art  than  the  Apollo  Belve- 
dere or  the  Venus  di  Medici.  No  writer  ever  made  a  picture  as  lifelike 
as  Macaulay's  Johnson  unless  he  understood  the  soul  behind  the 
man's  exterior.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Macaulay's  picture  of  Johnson  is 
a  much  more  finished  product  than  Carlyle's.  He  begins  where  Car- 
lyle leaves  off.  The  truth  appears  to  be  that  Macaulay's  critics  reason 
somewhat  after  this  fashion:  "  We  never  understood  anything  before. 
We  can  understand  Macaulay.  Therefore  Macaulay  must  be  shal- 
low.'" They  seem  to  forget  that  a  puddle  in  the  street  may  be  opaque 
without  being  deep,  and  that  water  in  the  ocean  may  be  as  deep  as 


LORD  MAC  ALLAY  431 

truth  without  being  opaque.  (6)  He  is  tolerant  of  everything  except 
tyranny  and  injustice;  he  is  the  champion  of  all  that  is  sane  in  demo- 
cratic institutions;  and  through  all  his  works  there  is  a  strong,  whole- 
some, and  invigorating  spirit  of  moral  earnestness. 

Either  these  qualities  or  some  others  found  approval  with  the 
people,  for  it  was  soon  apparent  that  the  "  Edinburgh  Review  "  had  a 
much  larger  circulation  when  it  contained  an  article  by  him  than  when 
it  did  not.  For  twenty  years  he  was  the  chief  pillar  of  its  popularity. 
During  that  time  he  contributed  to  it  in  all  thirty-six  papers,  varying 
in  length  from  twenty-two  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  quarto 
pages,  and  ranging  in  subject  from  Mr.  Robert  Montgomery's  poems 
to  Lord  Bacon's  philosophy.  It  is  impossible  here  to  give  an  adequate 
idea  of  their  contents  or  style.  Every  student  may  judge  of  them  for 
himself  if  he  will  read,  as  he  should,  the  essays  on  John  Milton, 
Warren  Hastings,  and  Croker's.  Bos  well.  Those  who  appreciate  these 
justly  will  be  sure  to  read  the  rest  of  his  writings. 

It  must  not  be  understood,  however,  that  Macaulay,  during  this 
period,  devoted  himself  wholly  to  literature.  His  vocation  from  1830 
to  1847  was  really  politics  and  politics  of  the  most  absorbing  interest. 
He  obtained  a  seat  in  Parliament  in  the  former  year  as  representative 
for  the  pocket  borough  of  Calne  and  immediately  gave  the  entire 
support  of  his  eloquence  to  a  reform  which  swept  his  constituency 
out  of  existence.  In  six  great  speeches  between  March,  1831,  and 
February,  1832,  he  won  recognition  as  a  master  in  debate  by  the  battle 
that  he  fought  for  the  right  of  the  English  voter  to  be  fairly  repre- 
sented. There  were  those  then  who  pronounced  him  the  best  speaker 
in  England,  and  there  are  those  now  who  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  his 
speeches  are  better  than  his  essays.  Two  things  are  sure:  There 
are  no  more  entertaining  speeches  in  print  than  those  he  made  on 
copyright;  and  no  oratory,  ancient  or  modern,  ever  converted  defeat 
into  victory  by  sheer  force  of  logic  more  completely  than  these.  So 
large,  in  fact,  was  Macaulay 's  success  as  an  orator  that,  in  1834,  he 
was  rewarded  by  a  job  in  India  which  was  worth  10,000  pounds  a  year. 
Upon  his  great  and  permanent  services  to  that  unhappy  country  we 
have,  unfortunately,  no  time  to  dwell.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  he 
accomplished   much   for  justice  and   for   education.     In   India  he 


432  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

remained  five  years.  Upon  his  return  to  England  he  re-entered  Par- 
liament as  a  member  for  Edinburgh,  but  in  1847  he  lost  his  seat 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  barkeepers  were  angry  because  he  had  voted 
for  a  higher  tax  on  beer  while  the  clergy  were  displeased  because  he 
had  supported  a  grant  to  a  Catholic  college  in  Ireland.  Half  a  dozen 
other  seats  were  instantly  offered  him,  but  he  embraced  the  oppor- 
tunity to  quit  politics  in  order  to  devote  himself  to  a  greater  literary 
task  than  any  he  had  yet  undertaken.  Five  years  later  his  Edin- 
burgh constituents,  thoroughly  ashamed  of  themselves,  made  what 
reparation  they  could  by  sending  him  back  to  Parliament. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  busy  with  his  "  History  of  England."  It 
was  his  purpose  to  give  an  account  of  all  the  important  transactions 
between  1688,  when  the  Crown  was  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
Parliament,  and  1832,  when  the  Parliament  was  brought  into  har- 
mony with  the  people.  Two  volumes  were  published  in  1848  and  two 
more  in  1855.  Their  success  was  instantaneous  and  permanent. 
Honors  were  showered  on  the  author  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe.  In  one  week  he  received  letters  of  congratulation  from  people 
at  Charleston,  people  at  Heidelberg,  and  people  at  Paris.  In  one 
check,  Mr.  Longmans  paid  him  20,000  pounds,  which  still  remains  the 
largest  lump  sum  ever  paid  for  literary  remuneration  in  any  country. 

The  causes  of  this  immense  success  were  in  the  main  the  same 
as  the  causes  of  the  success  of  his  essays.  There  was  the  same  vigor- 
ous, lucid,  and  at  times  caustic  style,  which  made  reading  easy  and 
stimulating  to  even  the  weariest  minds.  There  was  the  same  rich  store 
of  allusions,  which  flattered  those  who  understood  them  and  aroused 
the  curiosity  of  those  who  did  not.  There  were  vast  knowledge, 
cheerful  optimism,  and  a  power  of  narration  which  is  so  vivid  that' 
the  work  has  all  the  interest  of  a  novel. 

These  qualities,  however,  found  less  favor  in  the  following  genera- 
tion. A  new  school  of  historians  arose,  who  sought  to  reduce  history 
to  a  science.  The  result  was  more  or  less  of  an  attempt  to  discredit 
Macau) ay.  While  everybody  admitted  that  his  narrative  was  admira- 
bly picturesque,  his  historical  method  was  pronounced  out  of  date 
by  those  who  preferred  Buckle,  who  explained  everything  by  environ- 
ment, and  Taine.  who  explained  everything  by  climate.     At  the  same 


LORD  MACAULAY  433 

time  Freeman,  Stubbs,  Creighton,  and  Gardiner  by  their  writings 
made  it  fashionable  to  consider  human  interest  as  of  less  consequence 
than  documentary  evidence. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  writers,  in  comparison  with  Macaulay, 
are  quarrymen  rather  than  architects.  They  give  us  the  material 
for  history  instead  of  history  itself.  Their  histories  are  for  the  most 
part  as  shapeless  and  as  useless  as  piles  of  brick  and  stone,  while 
his  is  a  stately  mansion. 

This  stately  mansion,  however,  was  never  completed.  The  first 
four  volumes  covered  only  twelve  years.  Somebody  has  calculated 
that,  at  the  rate  he  was  progressing,  it  would  have  taken  Macaulay 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years  to  complete  his  task.  To  render  the 
situation  still  more  hopeless,  his  health  broke  down.  A  stroke  of 
heart  failure,  in  1852,  made  him,  to  quote  his  own  words,  twenty  years 
older  in  one  week.  Thereafter  he  was  never  well.  Yet,  even  amidst 
the  ruins  of  his  hopes  and  ambitions,  he  allowed  no  word  of  complaint 
to  escape  him.  In  his  private  diary,  under  the  date  of  December  3 1 , 
1853,  he  wrote:  "  I  enjoy  this  invalid  life  extremely." 

One  great  mark  of  distinction  came  to  him  during  these  closing 
years.  In  1857,  Queen  Victoria  made  him  Baron  Macaulay  of 
Rothley.  He  died  December  28,  1859,  falling  peacefully  asleep  among 
his  books  at  Holly  Lodge,  Hampden  Hill.  Upon  his  desk,  not  yet 
sealed,  were  found  a  letter  to  a  poor  clergyman  and  a  check  for  twenty 
pounds,  both  prepared  evidently  in  reply  to  an  appeal  for  assistance. 

Lack  of  space  renders  it  impossible  here  to  discuss  a  score  of  inter- 
esting topics.  The  student  would  find  abundant  pleasure  in  reading 
at  length  of  his  Scotch  ancestry,  his  father's  distinguished  services  to 
humanity,  the  lifelong  battle  which  he  waged  with  Carlyle,  his  fond- 
ness for  bad  novels,  his  hatred  of  bad  poets,  his  slovenly  clothes,  his 
strange  predilection  for  embroidered  waistcoats,  his  enormous  con- 
sumption of  razor  strops,  the  fine  audacity  with  which  he  abused  his 
constituents,  his  munificent  and  unostentatious  charity,  the  terrors 
of  his  invective,  his  hatred  of  those  Americans  who  carry  red  note- 
books, his  voluminous  reading,  the  lessons  in  statecraft  which  he  gave 
Gladstone,  the  delight  with  which  even  Christopher  North  hailed  the 
"  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  his  anxiety  that  his  books  should  be 
28 


434  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

accurately  punctuated,  his  complete  familiarity  with  Herodotus  and 
Thucydides,  and  his  complete  ignorance  of  Carlyle  and  Ruskin.  All 
these  things  and  more  are  told  in  what  is,  on  the  whole,  the  most 
entertaining  biography  in  the  English  language,  the  "  Life  of 
Macaulay,"  by  his  nephew,  Sir  George  Otto  Trevelyan. 

Macaulay  rests  with  his  peers  in  Westminster  Abbey.  "  There," — 
I  am  quoting  the  last  words  of  this  remarkable  book, — "  among  the 
tombs  of  Handel  and  Goldsmith  and  Burke  and  Garrick  and  Johnson, 
stands  conspicuous  the  monument  of  Addison,  and  at  the  feet  of 
Addison  lies  the  stone  which  bears  the  inscription: 

"  Thomas  Babington,  Baron  Macaulay 
Born  Oct.  25,  1800 
Died  Dec.  28,  1859 
'  His  body  is  buried  in  peace  but  his  name  liveth  forevermore.'  " 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  is  meant  by  "precocity"?     Describe  the  young  Macaulay's  intel- 

lectual pursuits. 

2.  What  college  did  he  attend  and  what  were  his  activities  as  a  student? 

3.  What  sort  of  man  was  Macaulay? 

4.  What  was  his  first  literary  success? 

5.  Tell  the  secrets  of  Macaulay's  charm. 

6.  Name  three  of  Macaulay's  greatest  essays. 

7.  Outline  his  political  career. 

8.  What  is  the  difference  between  Macaulay's  historical  method  and  that 

of  modern  historians? 

9.  Compare  and   contrast  Macaulay   with   Addison,  Johnson,   Burke,  or 

Carlyle. 
10.  Name  two  of  the  greatest  English  biographies. 

Suggested  Readings.— "  Fragments  of  a  Roman  Tale";  Essays  on 
Addison,  Goldsmith,  Johnson,  Clive,  Hastings,  Frederic  the  Great;  "Lays 
of  Ancient  Rorne  "  ;  and  the  first  chapter  of  the  "History  of  England." 
Trevelyan's  "Life  of  Macaulay"  is  one  of  the  most  readable  books  in  the 
world,  fully  worthy  to  be  the  biography  of  the  most  readable  of  all  authors 


k 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

LORD   TENNYSON    (1809-1892) 

"  It  is  in  Tennyson  that  we  find  the  quintessence  of  the  aims  and 
aspirations  of  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century." — Arthur  IVaugh. 

"  A  true  human  soul,  or  some  authentic  approximation  thereto,  to 
whom  your  own  soul  can  say,  '  Brother  ! '  " — Carlyle. 

"Who  shall  have  the  third  place,  if  it  be  not  Tennyson?" 

— Henry  I  'an  Dyke. 

"  The  most   faultless  of  modern  poets   in  technical  execution." 

— E.  C.  Stedman. 

Alfred  Tennyson  was  bom  August  6,  1809,  at  Somersby  in 
Lincolnshire.  The  year  1809  has  been  called  the  annus  mirabilis 
of  the  nineteenth  century  because  it  witnessed  the  birth  of  so  many 
great  people,  among  them  being  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning, 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  Charles  Darwin,  W.  E. 
Gladstone,  Felix  Mendelssohn,  and  Abraham  Lincoln.  Tennyson's 
father  was  a  stern  doctor.  His  mother  was  so  kind  hearted  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  village  used  to  bring  their  dogs  to  her 
windows  and  beat  them  in  order  to  be  bribed  by  the  gentle  lady  to 
leave  off.  She  is  described  in  his  poem  of  "  Isabel."  When  she  was 
almost  eighty,  a  daughter,  under  cover  of  her  deafness,  ventured 
to  mention  the  number  of  proposals  of  marriage  which  the  old  lady 
had  received,  naming  twenty-four.  Suddenly,  to  the  amusement  of 
all  present,  she  said  emphatically  and  simply,  as  for  truth's  sake: 
"  No,  my  dear,  twenty-five."  The  Tennyson  family  was  completed 
by  a  cook,  who  afterwards  said  of  them,  "  If  you  raaked  out  Hell 
with  a  small  tooth  coamb  you  weant  find  their  likes  ";  and  an  Aunt, 
who  wept  for  hours  at  a  time  because  God  was  so  infinitely  good. 
"  Has  he  not  damned  most  of  my  friends?  "  said  she.  "  But  me  he 
has  picked  out  for  eternal  salvation,  me  who  am  no  better  than  my 
neighbors."  One  day  she  said  to  her  nephew:  "  Alfred,  when  I  look 
at  you  I  think  of  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture — depart  from  me,  ye 
cursed,  into  everlasting  fire."  In  this  environment,  Tennyson  passed 
his  earliest  years. 

435 


436  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

From  1816  to  1820,  Alfred  attended  the  Louth  Grammar  School. 
-  The  only  good  I  got  from  it,"  he  said,  "  was  the  memory  of  the 
phrase  soims  dcsUkntis  aqucc."  The  poems  of  Horace  were  thoroughly 
drummed  into  him  during  these  years  and  he  disliked  Horace  in 
proportion.  In  later  life  he  used  to  exclaim  tragically:  "  They  use 
me  as  a  lesson  book  in  school  and  the  pupils  will  call  me  that  horrible 
Tennyson."  While  he  was  at  Louth  he  wrote  his  first  poem.  It  was 
in  blank  verse  in  imitation  of  Thomson  and  was  written  on  a  slate. 
••  It's  wonderful,"  says  Professor  Jebb,  "  how  the  whelp  could  have 
known  such  things."  He  also  taught  himself  Italian  by  the  mantel- 
piece method,  which  was  invented  by  him,  and  consists  of  writing 
words  that  are  to  be  remembered  upon  the  white  enamel  of  one's 
mantelpiece. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  that  is  to  say  in  1828,  he  entered  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge.    Though  he  found  the  country  level,  the  revelry 
monotonous,  and  the  studies  tame,  he  contrived  to  extract  a  good 
deal  of  satisfaction  from  his  college  career.    His  Johnsonian  common 
sense  and  the  union  in  him  of  strength  with  refinement  made  him  the 
hero  of  his  days  in  college.    He  and  his  friends  formed  a  kind  of 
club  called  the  Apostles,  the  chief  members  of  which  were:    (1)  a 
tame  snake,  the  sinuosities  of  which  Alfred  loved  to  watch;  (2)  A.  T. 
Brookfield,  whose  jokes  were  so  funny  that  he  often  made  the  whole 
party  lie  on  the  floor  for  purposes  of  unrestrained  laughter;    (3) 
Richard  IVIonckton  Milnes,  who  played  Beatrice  in   "  Much  Ado 
About  Nothing  "  but  was  so  heavy  that  when  he  sat  down  the  marble 
stage  seat  collapsed;  and  (4)  Arthur  Henry  Hallam,  who  was  des- 
tined later  to  inspire  "  In  Memoriam  "  and  was  as  near  perfection, 
according  to  Tennyson,  as  mortal  could  be.    For  exercise,  Tennyson 
rowed,  fenced,  and  walked  during  these  years.     Of  his  tutors  the 
most  famous  was  Whewell,  the  lion-like,  who  tolerated  some  irregu- 
larity; for  instance,  when  he  caught  Tennyson  reading  Virgil  in  his 
geometry  class  he  called  him  to  order  thus:  "  Mr.  Tennyson,  what  is 
the  compound  interest  of  a  penny  put  out  at  the  Christian  Era  up  to 
date?  "    Billy  Whistle  was  Whewell's  nickname.     At  12  o'clock  one 
night,  horns,  and  trumpets,  and  bugles,  and  drums  began  to  play 
from  all  the  windows  around  Trinity  New  Court,  and  a  man  who 


LORD  TENNYSON 


4S7 


had  been  expelled  that  day  strummed  on  a  piano  on  the  lawn  and, 
to  quote  Tennyson's  own  words,  "  There  was  the  fiend's  own  row." 
Soon  Whewell,  who  lived  in  Neville's  Court  next  to  New  Court,  was 
heard  thundering  at  his  door,  which  had  been  tied  with  a  rope. 


LORD   TENNYSON 
1809 — 1892 
From   the  drawing  by    M.   Arnault 

Finally,  he  broke  through  but  found  only  silence  and  order  and  the 
expelled  man  by  the  piano  in  the  moonlight.  Whewell  strode  to  the 
piano.  The  man  fled.  At  last  Whewell  caught  him,  "  Do  you  know 
me?  "  said  WTiewell  panting.  "  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  man,  "  you 
are  Old  Whistle,  who  made  that  mistake  in  his  dynamics."    Thereupon 


438  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Whevvell,  seeing  that  he  was  the  expelled  man,  took  him  by  the  scruff 
of  the  neck,  carried  him  to  the  great  gate,  and  shot  him  out  like  bad 
rubbish.  During  his  college  career,  it  should  be  added,  Tennyson 
took  a  decided  interest  in  politics.  When  somebody  asked  him  to 
what  party  he  belonged,  he  replied,  "  The  same  as  Shakespeare, 
Bacon,  and  every  sane  man." 

In  1830  he  published,  in  collaboration  with  his  brother,  a  volume 
called  "  Poems,  Chiefly  Lyrical,"  and  in  1832  a  volume  called 
"  Poems."  Though  the  book  reached  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  across 
the  ocean,  it  was  unfavorably  received  by  the  "  Quarterly,"  and 
Tennyson,  in  consequence,  published  nothing  else  for  ten  years. 
Instead  he  devoted  himself  to  study  and  preparation. 

During  those  years,  we  find  him  in  1835  in  the  Lake  country 
but  refusing  to  call  upon  Wordsworth  lest  he  intrude.  In  1839  he 
was  so  poor  that  he  could  not  go  from  London  to  Lincolnshire  to  see 
his  fiancee,  Emily  Sellwood.  In  1840  he  met  Thomas  Carlyle,  who 
described  him  at  that  time  as  a  fine,  large-featured,  dim-eyed,  bronze- 
colored,  shaggy-headed  man;  dusty,  smoky,  free  and  easy;  who 
swims  outwardly  and  inwardly  with  great  composure  in  an  articulate 
element  as  of  tranquil  chaos  and  tobacco  smoke;  great  now  and  then 
when  he  does  emerge;  a  most  restful,  brotherly,  solid-hearted  man." 
Carlyle  wrote  to  Emerson  in  1842:  "  Alfred  is  one  of  the  few  British 
and  foreign  figures  who  are  and  remain  beautiful  to  me,  a  true  human 
soul,  or  some  approximation  thereto,  to  whom  your  own  soul  can 
say  '  Brother  '!  "  During  these  years,  Tennyson  Hved  mostly  in 
London  on  Norfolk  Street.  His  favorite  place  for  dining  was  at 
Bertolini's,  or  '  Dirtolini's,'  as  he  called  it.  He  used  to  say  that  a 
perfect  dinner  consisted  of  a  beef  steak,  a  potato,  a  cut  of  cheese,  a 
pint  of  porter,  and  a  pipe.  When  joked  on  his  fondness  for  salt 
beef  and  new  potatoes,  he  would  answer:  "All  fine-natured  men  know 
what  is  good  to  eat." 

In  1842  Tennyson  finally  emerged  from  obscurity  through  the 
publication  of  a  third  volume,  called  "Poems."  It  contained,  among 
other  pieces,  "  Locksley  Hall,"  "  Godiva,"  "  The  May  Queen," 
"  Morte  d'Arthur,"  "  The  Lord  of  Burleigh,"  "  Ulysses,"  and  "  The 
Lotus  Eaters."    The  volume  was  well  received.    Wordsworth  praised 


LORD  TENNYSON  439 

it,  Carlyle  sent  a  flattering  letter,  and  Dickens  presented  him  with 
a  set  of  his  works.  His  financial  difficulties,  however,  were  not  yet 
at  an  end.  In  1844  he  lost  what  little  money  he  had  in  an  unfortunate 
speculation,  but  was  rescued  from  his  difficulties  the  next  year  by  a 
pension  which  Thomas  Carlyle  persuaded  Richard  Monckton  Milnes 
to  secure  for  him.  It  is  recorded  in  this  connection  that  one  day 
Carlyle  said  to  Milnes:  "  When  are  you  going  to  get  that  pension  for 
Alfred  Tennyson?  "  Milnes  replied:  "  The  thing  is  not  easy;  my 
constituents  will  cry  fraud."  Thereupon  Carlyle  said  solemnly  and 
emphatically,  "  Richard  Milnes,  on  the  day  of  judgment,  when  the 
Lord  asks  you  why  you  didn't  get  that  pension  for  Alfred  Tennyson,  it 
will  not  do  to  lay  the  blame  on  your  constituents;  it  is  you  who  will 
be  damned."  There  was  a  contest  between  James  Sheridan  Knowles 
and  Tennyson  for  the  pension,  but  it  was  settled  by  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
being  shown  Tennyson's  "  Ulysses." 

Two  years  later  he  published  "  The  Princess,"  of  which  Sir  W.  R. 
Hamilton,  a  mathematician,  said,  "  How  much  wiser  than  my 
Quaternions!"  The  poem  is  an  exposition  of  the  woman's  rights 
question,  thrown  into  the  form  of  a  story,  but,  unlike  most  expositions, 
is  full  of  exquisite  poetry.  Some  of  the  lyrics  which  it  contains  will 
probably  be  remembered  as  long  as  the  English  language  is  read. 
When  it  was  finally  published,  Tennyson  wrote  to  his  friend  Edward 
Fitzgerald:  "  My  book  is  out  and  I  hate  it." 

Three  years  later,  in  1850,  he  published  "  In  Memoriam  "  in 
memory  of  Arthur  Henry  Hallam,  who  had  died  in  1834.  One  of 
Tennyson's  keenest  critics  says  of  this:  "  To  my  mind  and  heart 
the  most  satisfactory  things  that  have  ever  been  said  on  the  future 
state  are  contained  in  this  poem."  The  student  will  find  its  central 
thought  in  the  short  poem  beginning: 

"  Break,  break,  break 
On   thy   cold   grey   stones,    O    Sea !  " 

In  this  same  year,  owing  to  the  death  of  Wordsworth,  Tennyson 
was  offered  and  accepted  the  position  of  Poet  Laureate.  Prince 
Albert,  husband  of  Queen  Victoria,  admired  "  In  Memoriam,"  and 
Tennyson  was  therefore  offered  the  place.     "  I  accepted  it,"  said  the 


ItO  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

bard,  "  because  Venables  told  me  that  when  I  dined  out  I  should 
always  be  offered  the  liver  wing  of  a  fowl."  The  most  important 
event  of  the  year  to  Tennyson  was,  however,  his  marriage  to  Emily 
Sellwood.  When  somebody  asked  him  how  he  enjoyed  the  ceremony, 
he  is  said  to  have  replied,  "  It  was  the  nicest  wedding  I  have  ever 
been  at."  As  a  honeymoon  trip,  the  newly-married  couple  went  next 
year  to  Italy.  Tennyson  has  described  their  experiences  for  us  in 
the  poem  called  "  The  Daisy." 

After  their  return  to  England,  they  lived  at  Twickenham,  where, 
in  1S52,  their  eldest  son  Hallam  Tennyson  was  born.  Tennyson 
called  him  a  little  monster  and  wrote  his  poem  "  De  Profundis  "  as 
a  record  of  the  thoughts  which  the  child  aroused  in  his  mind.  Some- 
what later  he  said  to  one  of  his  friends:  "  I  used  to  think  old  painters 
overdid  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  infant  Christs,  but  I  see  now  they 
did  n't.  This  morning  Hallam  lay  half-an-hour  worshipping  the  bed- 
post on  which  the  sunlight  flickered."  As  soon  as  he  could,  he  took 
the  baby  to  see  old  Samuel  Rogers,  who  had  once  had  his  hand  on 
Dr.  Johnson's  knocker. 

In  1853  he  moved  from  Twickenham  to  Farringford,  where  the 
air  was  worth  sixpence  a  pint,  so  that  he  might  enjoy  the  pleasure  of 
rustic  life.  Here  in  1854  Lionel  Tennyson  was  born.  He  studied 
nature  and  geology  and  played  football  with  his  boys.  He  taught 
Horace's  "  Fons  Bandusiae  "  to  Hallam,  but  would  not  allow  him  to 
learn  his  own  poems  and  insisted  that  his  boys  show  courtesy  to  the 
poor.  Later  we  find  him  giving  Hallam  this  sound  bit  of  advice: 
"  Learn  your  lessons  regularly;  for  gentlemen  and  ladies  will  not  take 
you  for  a  gentleman  when  you  grow  up  if  you  are  ignorant."  On 
December  9,  1854,  he  saw  in  a  newspaper,  which  was  commenting  on 
some  phase  of  the  war  in  the  Crimea,  the  phrase,  "  Some  one  had 
l)lunflered."  This  suggested  to  him  "  The  Charge  of  the  Light 
Hrigarle,"  which  he  wrote  in  a  few  moments  and  which  was  printed 
the  next  year  for  the  soldiers  in  the  trenches. 

In  1855  appeared  his  third  long  poem,  "  Maud."  Of  its  excellence 
he,  himself,  said:  "The  oftener  I  read  Maud  the  more  I  am  con- 
vinced of  its  merits."  Farringford  was  paid  for  with  the  proceeds 
from  "  Maud,"  which  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  Tennyson's 


LORD  TENNYSON  441 

fondness  for  the  poem.  When  he  was  asked  to  read  something  from 
his  own  poems,  he  usually  chose  "  Guinevere,"  "  The  Ode  on  Welling- 
ton," or  "  Maud."  Shortly  after  its  publication  he  was  given  the 
degree  of  D.  C.  L.  by  the  University  of  Oxford,  the  students  receiving 
him  with  a  great  ovation  and  cheering  "  In  Memoriam,"  "  Inkerman," 
and  "  Alma." 

Four  years  later,  that  is,  in  1859,  he  published  the  first  four  of 
"  The  Idylls  of  the  King,"  in  which  he  made  an  attempt,  on  the 
whole  successful,  to  create  a  national  English  epic  on  the  subject  of 
King  Arthur.  Ten  thousand  copies  were  sold  the  first  week.  One 
line  from  the  Idylls  he  usually  wrote  in  autograph  albums  when  unable 
to  escape,  "  He  makes  no  friends  who  never  made  a  foe."  He  spelled 
Idylls  with  two  I's  when  referring  to  his  long  idyls  and  with  one  1 
when  referring  to  his  short  ones.  The  character  of  Sir  Gareth  was 
drawn  as  a  model  for  his  boys. 

His  next  considerable  poem,  "  Enoch  Arden,"  was  published  in 
1864.  Sixty  thousand  copies  were  soon  sold.  He  was  called  the  poet 
of  the  people  in  consequence  of  this  popularity.  About  the  same  time 
he  wrote  "  The  Flower,"  which  he  described  as  a  universal  apologue. 
In  1865  he  was  offered  a  baronetcy,  which  he  declined,  and  a  mem- 
bership in  Dr.  Johnson's  club,  which  he  accepted.  In  1867  we  find 
him  writing  to  Longfellow:  "  We  Englishmen  and  Americans  should 
all  be  brothers  as  none  others  among  the  nations  can  be."  In  1868 
it  is  recorded  that  he  waltzed  at  a  party.  In  the  same  year,  on 
April  23,  Shakespeare's  birthday,  he  laid  the  foundation  stone  of  a 
new  house  at  Aldworth.  He  wanted  shields  on  his  mantel  to  repre- 
sent Dante,  Chaucer,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Goethe,  and  Wordsworth. 
He  planted  trees  and  watched  them  grow  and  obtained  a  sundial  with 
the  inscription,  Horas  non  tnimero  nisi  serenas,  "  The  hours  I  do  not 
record  unless  they  are  bright." 

During  the  nine  years  between  1875  and  1884,  Tennyson's  chief 
literary  occupation  was  the  production  of  a  series  of  historical  plays 
which  were  designed  to  complete  the  cycle  begun  by  Shakespeare. 
Of  these  "  Harold  "  deals  with  the  making  of  England  by  the  Danes 
Saxons,  and  Normans;  "  Beket,"  with  the  early  fight  of  church  and 
state  under  Henry  II;   and  "Mary,"  with  the  Reformation.     Of 


442  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Harold,"  Longfellow  wrote  to  Tennyson:  "  The  fifth  act  is  a  master- 
piece of  dramatic  writing.  I  know  not  where  to  look  for  anything 
better."  Of  "  Beket,"  John  Richard  Green,  the  historian,  said: 
"  It  is  the  most  accurate  picture  of  Henry  II  in  existence."  On  the 
stage  it  was  one  of  Henry  Irving's  three  most  successful  plays.  One 
critic  pronounced  it  better  than  Shakespeare's  "  King  John."  During 
those  nine  years,  Tennyson  also  produced  "  The  Revenge,"  a  poem 
which  every  student  should  read  and  which  caused  Thomas  Carlyle 
to  say  to  him:  "  Eh!  Alfred,  you  have  got  the  grip  of  it."  For  the 
most  part,  during  this  period,  Tennyson  lived  happily  at  Aldworth, 
var>'ing  his  retirement  with  occasional  trips  to  the  Continent.  In 
1875  he  climbed  an  Alp  7000  feet  high.  He  thought  the  best  picture 
in  Venice  was  Venice  itself,  as  one  glides  in  a  gondola  along  the 
Grand  Canal.  In  1884  he  was  offered  and  accepted  a  Peerage.  He 
took  it  at  Gladstone's  advice  for  his  son's  sake,  but  said  that  he  would 
regret  his  simple  name  always. 

In  1885  he  published  a  new  volume  of  poems  called  "  Teiresias  "; 
in  1886,  "  Locksley  Hall  Sixty  Years  After  ";  in  1889,  "  Demeter  "; 
and  in  1892,  "  The  Death  of  CEnone."  These  volumes  contained  some 
of  his  best  work.  In  1887,  Tennyson  met  one  of  his  old  friends,  Mrs. 
Proctor,  and  said  to  her,  "  I  am  78  and  you  are  87,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility we  shall  never  meet  again,"  to  which  she  replied,  "  Don't  you 
young  folks  be  impertinent  to  your  elders,"  a  remark  which  greatly 
delighted  him.  In  1890  he  composed  "  Crossing  the  Bar."  When  he 
first  read  it  to  his  son  Hallam,  he  said:  "  Mind  you  put  it  at  the  end 
of  all  editions  of  my  poems."  "  It  is  the  crown  of  your  life's  work," 
replied  Hallam.  At  this  time  he  was  in  high  spirits  and  liked  to  waltz, 
and  would  defy  his  friends  to  get  up  twenty  times  from  a  chair  quickly 
without  using  their  hands.  He  was  much  amused  at  an  American 
who  came  to  Aldworth,  having  worked  his  way  across  the  Atlantic, 
to  recite  "  Maud  "  to  the  author.  He  was  so  delighted,  in  fact,  with 
the  performance  that  he  paid  his  visitor's  fare  back  to  America.  He 
was  greatly  struck  with  the  merit  of  Kipling's  early  work,  and  took 
occasion  to  assure  him  of  his  admiration,  perhaps  being  mindful  of 
the  ten  years  of  neglect  which  he  himself  had  suffered  between  1832 
and  1S42.    Kipling  replied  with  courtly  grace:  "  The  private  in  the 


LORD  TENNYSON  443 

ranks  cannot  thank  the  general  for  his  praise,  but  he  fights  the  better 
for  it." 

Tennyson's  death  occurred  October  7,  1892.  The  following  item 
appeared  in  the  newspapers  at  the  time:  "  Nothing  could  be  more 
striking  than  the  scene  during  the  last  few  hours.  On  the  bed  a 
figure  of  breathing  marble,  flooded  and  bathed  in  the  light  of  the  full 
moon  streaming  through  the  oriel  window,  his  hand  clasping  the 
volume  of  Shakespeare  which  he  had  called  for.  The  moonlight,  the 
majestic  frame  as  he  lay  there,  drawing  thicker  breath,  irresistibly 
brought  to  our  minds  his  own  '  Passing  of  Arthur. '  "  He  was  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey  with  "  Cymbeline  "  and  a  laurel  wreath  from 
Virgil's  tomb.  Many  were  reading  "  In  Memoriam  "  before  the  ser- 
vice. "  Crossing  the  Bar  "  was  sung.  He  lies  next  to  Browning 
in  front  of  Chaucer's  monument.  For  weeks  an  endless  procession 
passed  his  grave. 

Tennyson  has  been  fortunate  in  his  biographer,  Hallam  Tenny- 
son. In  his  "  Memoirs  of  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,"  he  has  preserved 
a  considerable  amount  of  his  father's  conversation.  It  is  a  rich  store- 
house of  wisdom,  well  worth  reading  for  its  intrinsic  interest  and 
invaluable  as  a  portraiture  of  the  man  himself.  The  following  frag- 
ments of  his  conversation  will  give  the  student  some  idea  of  its 
quality: 

"  Shakespeare  is  the  man  one  would  wish  perhaps  to  show  as  a 
sample  of  mankind  to  those  in  another  planet." — "  Lycidas  is  a  test 
of  any  reader's  poetic  instinct." — "  Humour  will  be  found  even  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ." — "  All  life  is  a  school,  a  preparation,  a  purpose; 
nor  can  we  pass  current  in  a  higher  college,  if  we  do  not  undergo  the 
tedium  of  education  in  this  lower  one." — "  It  is  motive,  it  is  the  real 
purpose  which  consecrates  life." — ''  Prayer  is  our  highest  aspiration." 
— "  A  truthful  man  generally  has  all  virtues." — "  Make  the  lives  of 
children  as  beautiful  as  possible." — "  I  never  put  two  ss's  together." 
(He  called  getting  rid  of  s  sounds  kicking  the  geese  out  of  the  boat.) 
— "  The  general  English  view  of  God  is  as  of  an  immeasurable  clergy- 
man."— "  England  is  the  most  beastly  self-satisfied  nation  in  the 
world." — "  The  greatest  inventor  must  have  been  the  inventor  of  a 
wheel." — "  Contempt  is  a  sure  mark  of  a  little  mind." — "  There's 


tU  ENGTJSTT  LTTKRATURE 

more  wisdom  in  Bacon's  "  Essays  "  than  in  any  other  book  of  the 
size."— When  asked  if  Bacon  wrote  Shakespeare,  he  said:  "  Don't 
be  a  fool." 

Of  all  our  poets,  Tennyson  is  perhaps  the  easiest  to  read.  The 
student  should  drink  deep  at  this  Pierian  spring.  He  may  rest  assured 
that  he  will  find  it  at  once  refreshing  and  delightful.  As  a  beginning, 
it  will  be  well  for  him  to  read  the  poems  mentioned  in  the  "  suggested 
readings."  When  he  has  arrived  this  far,  if  he  does  not  feel  a  strong 
desire  to  read  more,  he  may  be  perfectly  sure  that  his  real  vocation 
lies  outside  of  the  realms  of  literature. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

I.  Name  ten  great  people  born  in   i8og. 

_'.  Witli  liow  much  enthusiasm  were  "  Poems,   Chiefly  Lyrical  "  accepted 

by  the  public?     What  effect  did  the  reception  have  upon  the  work 

of  Alfred  Tennyson? 
.?.  In  what  year  did  Tennyson  win  his  first  recognition   and  with   what 

book  ? 

4.  At  what  stage  of  life  were  Ruskin,  Carlyle,  and  Wordsworth  at  this 

time? 

5.  What  poem  is  thought  to  have  won  Tennyson  his  pension? 

6.  Tell  of  the  relations  l)etween  Arthur  Henry  Hallam  and  Tennyson. 

7.  Read  ten  of  Tennyson's  shorter  poems  and  tell  the  class  the  especial 

poetic  attributes  of  each. 

8.  Recount  to  the  class  the  story  of   "  Enoch  Arden." 

9.  Which  did  you  like  better,  the  "  Idylls  of  the  King"  or  Malory's  "  King 

Arthur  "? 
10.  Outline  Tennyson's  life  and  describe  the  character  of  the  man. 

Suggested  Readings.—"  Tlie  May  Queen,"  "  The  Lotus  Eaters,"  the 
"  Morte  d'Arthur,"  "  Ulysses,"  "  Locksley  Hall,"  "  Sir  Galahad,"  "  The 
Lord  of  Burleigh,"  "The  Princess,"  "Enoch  Arden,"  "  Tlie  Brook,"  "The 
Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade,"  "  Gareth  and  Lynette,"  "  The  Revenge," 
"  Crossing  the  Bar,"  and  "  Maud  "  will  but  introduce  the  reader  to  Tenny- 
son's manifold  attainments.  "Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,  a  Memoir,"  by  his 
son,  is  one  of  the  greatest  English  biographies. 


Jpn/n^^Hf^ 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
ROBERT   BROWNING    (1812-1889) 


"  He   was   clever   enough   to   understand    his   own   poetry ;   and,    if   he 
understood  it,  we  can  understand  it." — G.  K.  Chesterton. 


"  He  has  a  mighty  intellect." — Tennyson. 

"  He  was  clever   enough   to  understand 
erstood  it,  we  can  understand  it." — G.  K.  C 

"I  like  Brovvning;  he  isn't  at  all  like  a  damned  literary  man." — Lock- 
hart. 

"  His  genius  is  the  least  important  thing  about  him." — Mrs.  Browning. 

Robert  Browning  was  bom  in  Camberwell,  a  southern  suburb 
of  London,  May  7,  1812.  He  was  descended  from  a  series  of  butlers, 
bank  clerks,  and  innkeepers.  His  father,  he  said,  had  more  poetic 
genius  than  he.  At  any  rate  he  had  enough  interest  in  poetry  to  train 
his  son  to  be  a  poet.  The  consequence  was  that,  like  Pope,  Browning 
lisped  in  numbers,  for  the  numbers  came.  At  eight  he  had  written 
a  volume,  which  was  handed  about  in  manuscript.  At  that  time  he 
was  wholly  under  Byron's  influence,  which  distressed  his  father,  who 
wanted  him  to  imitate  Pope.  Up  to  1826  he  went  to  school  at 
Dulwich;  afterwards  he  had  a  tutor  at  home.  He  had  no  brother 
and  one  sister.  His  father  had  plenty  of  property  to  support  both 
of  them.  Browning,  therefore,  decided  that  poetry  should  be  his 
life-work. 

In  1825,  he  happened  quite  by  accident  to  find  the  works  of  Percy 
Bysshe  Shelley  in  a  book-store  on  the  Strand.  The  result  was  that 
he  lost  his  admiration  for  Byron  and  his  art  was  revolutionized. 
Shelley  had  been  dead  at  this  time  for  three  years,  but  no  bookseller 
in  London  had  heard  of  him  or  his  works.  Robert's  mother  picked  up 
for  him,  at  the  same  time,  the  works  of  another  equally  unknown  poet, 
a  Mr.  John  Keats.  There  is  a  lesson  in  this  incident  for  those  who 
are  discouraged  owing  to  lack  of  appreciation.  Shelley  and  Keats  are 
now  recognized  as  among  the  greatest  masters  of  the  English  language. 

In  1829  and  1830  Browning  attended  lectures  at  L^niversity 
College,  London.     In  1832  he  went  to  live  at  Richmond.     Here, 

445 


446  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

on  October  22,  he  finished  "  Pauline."  Given  money  to  print  it  by 
his  aunt  he  published  it  anonymously  the  next  year.  Browning  did 
not  acknowledge  until  some  years  later  that  he  was  its  author,  and 
then  did  so  only  to  prevent  piracy.     It  was  reviewed  fully  and  cor^ 


ROBERT  BROWNING 
1812 — 1880 


dially  in  the  "  Monthly  Repository."  John  Stuart  Mill  was  delighted 
by  it.  Years  afterward  a  letter  came  from  a  young  painter  who  said 
he  had  copied  it  in  the  British  Museum.    It  was  signed  Dante  Gabriel 


ROBERT  BROWNING  447 

Rossetti.    There  was  also  a  kind  review  in  the  "  Athenaeum  "  by  Allan 
Cunningham. 

In  1833  and  1834  Browning  travelled  extensively  in  Russia  and 
Italy.  In  1835  he  published  a  second  work,  called  "  Paracelsus." 
"  Pauline,"  in  spite  of  the  praise  which  it  had  received,  had  been 
somewhat  immature.  One  critic  indeed  says  that  it  contained  ideas, 
which,  like  the  measles,  every  poet  has  to  have  and  get  over.  The 
following  quotations  will  perhaps  show  why  it  impressed  competent 
judges: 

"  That  we  devote  ourselves  to  God  is  seen 
In  living  just  as  if  no  God  there  were." 

Part  I. 
"  Be  sure  that  God 
Ne'er  dooms  to  waste  the  strength  he  deigns  impart." 

Ibid. 
"  Are  there  not,  dear  Michael, 
Two  points  in  the  adventure  of  the  diver, — 
One,  when  a  beggar  he  prepares  to  plunge ; 
One,  when  a  prince  he  rises  with  his  pearl? 
Festus,  I  plunge." 


"The  sad  rhyme  of  the  men  who  proudly  clung 
To   their   first   fault,   and   withered   in  their  pride." 


Ibid. 


Part  IV. 


About  this  time  Browning  met  Walter  Savage  Landor,  William 
Wordsworth,  and  Macready,  the  greatest  actor  then  upon  the  English 
stage.  Macready  was  so  much  impressed  with  Browning's  ability 
as  a  dramatic  writer  that  he  invited  him  to  produce  a  play.  Accord- 
ingly, Browning's  tragedy  of  "  Strafford  "  was  composed,  published, 
and  played  at  the  Covent  Garden  Theatre.    It  was  well  received. 

In  1840,  he  published  "  Sordello,"  a  long  story  in  blank  verse. 
This  was  much  ridiculed  on  account  of  the  obscurity  of  its  style. 
Tennyson  is  said  to  have  remarked:  "  There  are  in  '  Sordello  '  only  two 
lines  which  I  can  understand — the  first  line  of  the  book,  which  is 

'  Who  will,  may  hear   Bordello's  story  told,' 
and  the  last  line, 

'  Who  would,  has  heard  Sordello's  story  told,' 
and  both  of  these  are  lies."     Douglas  Jerrold,  at  the  time  "  Sordello  " 
came  out,  was  recovering  from  a  serious  illness.     Having  been  given 


tl8  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

permission  to  read  a  little,  he  began  the  poem.  No  sooner  had  he 
done  so  than  he  turned  deadly  pale  and  cried:  "  My  God!  I'm  an 
idiot.  My  health  is  restored,  but  my  mind  is  gone.  I  can't  under- 
stand two  consecutive  lines  of  an  English  poem."  The  fact  of  the 
matter  is  that,  while  "  Sordello  "  is  hard  reading,  it  should  not  be 
called  obscure.  Any  person  who  has  the  patience  to  read  it  three  times 
will  be  amply  rewarded.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1841,  that 
Browning  won  any  real  popularity  as  a  poet.  In  that  year,  he  pub- 
lished his  little  dramatic  masterpiece,  "  Pippa  Passes,"  which  any 
student  can  read  and  enjoy,  and  a  volume  of  short  poems  called 
"  Bells  and  Pomegranates."  This  latter  volume  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Miss  Elizabeth  Barrett,  who  cailed  it  a  "  Pomegranate  that  showed 
a  heart  within  blood-tinctured,  of  a  veined  humanity." 

In  1842  these  books  were  followed  by  a  volume  entitled  "  Dra- 
matic Lyrics,"  the  publication  of  which  clearly  established  Brown- 
ing's position  as  a  great  English  poet.  It  contained  the  following,  all 
of  which  should  be  read  by  the  student:  (1)  "Cavalier  Tunes," 
(2)  "  My  Last  Duchess,"  (3)  "  Incident  of  the  French  Camp,"  (4) 
"  The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin."  The  last  was  written  especially  for 
little  Willie  Macready,  but  it  has  since  delighted  thousands  of  other 
boys  and  girls  both  young  and  old.  In  1843  and  1844  Browning  pro- 
duced three  more  or  less  successful  plays — "  The  Return  of  the 
Druses,"  "  A  Blot  in  the  Scutcheon,"  and  "  Colombe's  Birthday  "— 
and  in  1845  "  Dramatic  Romances  and  Lyrics."  The  latter  contains 
several  of  his  most  famous  poems,  among  them  "  Saul,"  "  How  They 
Brought  the  Good  News  from  Ghent  to  Aix,"  "  The  Boy  and  the 
Angel,"  and  "  The  Lost  Leader."  Three  of  the  lines  in  this  volume 
have  perhaps  never  been  surpassed: 

"There's  the  wise  thrt^h;  he  sings  each  song  twice  over 
Lest  you  might  think  The  never  could  recapture 
That  first  fine  careless  rapture." 

— Home  Thoughts  from  Abroad. 

In  1846,  he  published  "A  Soul  Tragedy"  and  "  Luria  ";  and, 
what  was  perhaps  more  important,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Barrett 
on  September  12.     She  was  already  distinguished  as  a  poet  even 


ROBERT  BROWNING  449 

more  than  her  illustrious  husband,  her  best  work  probably  being  a 
volume  entitled  "  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese,"  such  sonnets,  indeed, 
as  no  Portuguese  ever  wrote  or  will  write.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  she 
was  three  years  his  senior,  was  an  invalid  while  he  enjoyed  robust 
health,  and  believed  in  Spiritualism,  while  he  did  not,  their  marriage 
was  an  entire  success.  His  affection  for  her  is  recorded  in  his  poem 
"  Prospice,"  which  be  wrote  after  her  death  in  1861.  On  account 
of  the  dehcacy  of  her  health,  they  left  England  in  1847  and  settled 
at  Casa  Guidi  in  Florence,  Italy.  Here,  on  March  9,  1849,  Robert 
Barrett  Browning  was  bom,  and  here,  for  years,  his  parents  did  their 
literary  work. 

In  1855,  Browning  published  perhaps  the  richest  of  all  his  volumes, 
"  Men  and  Women."  It  contained  "  One  Word  More,"  "  Cleon," 
"  The  Statue  and  the  Bust,"  "  Childe  Roland,"  "  Old  Pictures  in 
Florence,"  "  Two  in  the  Campagna,"  "  De  Gustibus,"  "  Fra  Lippo 
Lippi,"  and  "  Andrea  del  Sarto."  The  following  quotations,  frag- 
mentary though  they  are,  may  give  some  inkling  of  the  poetry  and 
humor  of  this  volume: 

"They  are  perfect;    how  else?  they  shall  never  change. 
We  are  faulty;  why  not? — we  have  time  in  store." 

— Old  Pictures  in  Florence. 

"  Infinite  passion  and  the  pain 
Of   finite  hearts  that  yearn." 

— Two  in  the  Campagna. 

"  Italy,    my    Italy  ! 

Queen  Mary's  saying  serves  for  me 

(When  fortune's  malice 

Lost  her   Calais)  : 
'  Open  my  heart  and  you  will  see 

Graved  inside  of  it,  '  Italy.'  " 

— De  Gustibus. 

"  If  you  get  simple  beauty  and  nought  else 
You  get  about  the  best  thing  God  invents." 

Z  — Fra  Lippo  Lippi. 

"  One  fine  frosty  day, 
My  stomach  being  as  empty  as  your  hat." 

Ibid. 

"  Paint  the  soul ;  never  mind  the  legs  and  arms." 

Ibid. 

"  You  should  not  take  a  fellow  eight  years  old 
And  make  him  swear  to  never  kiss  the  girls." 

Ibid. 

29 


450  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  Nature  is  complete  : 
Suppose  you  reproduce  her   (which  you  can't) 
There's  no  advantage !     You  must  beat  her,  then. 
For,  don't  you  mark?     We're  made  so  that  we  love 
First  when  we  see  them  painted,  things  we  have  passed 
Perhaps  a  hundred  times  nor  cared  to  see." 

— Fra  Lippo  Lippi. 

"  This  world's  no  blot  for  us 
Nor  blank;  it  means  intensely  and  means  good." 

Ibid. 

In  1864  this  was  followed  by  "  Dramatis  Personae,"  which  con- 
tained "  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,"  "  Prospice,"  "  A  Death  in  the  Desert,"  and 
"  Caliban  upon  Setebos,"  all  poems  which  are  full  of  ripe  wisdom, 
beauty,  and  spirit.  Three  brief  quotations  will  give  some  notion  of 
their  quality: 

"  For  life,  with  all  it  yields  of  joy  and  woe. 
And  hope  and  fear   (believe  the  aged   friend). 
Is  just  our  chance  o'  the  prize  of  learning  love." 

— A  Death  in  the  Desert. 

"  Progress,   man's   distinctive   mark   alone. 
Not  God's  and  not  the  beasts' ;  God  is ;  they  are ; 
Man  partly  is  and  wholly  hopes  to  be." 

Ibid. 

"  The  ultimate  angels'   law, 
Indulging  every  instinct  of  the  soul 
Tliere  where  law,  life,  joy,  impulse  are  one  thing." 

Ibid. 

His  next  large  work  came  in  1868  and  1869,  being  a  long  account 
of  a  murder  trial  entitled  "  The  Ring  and  the  Book."  This  was 
followed  in  1871  by  "  Balaustion's  Adventure  ";  in  1873  by  "  Prince 
Hohenstiel-Schwangau  ";  in  1877  by  "  Agamemnon  ";  and  in  1879 
by  "  Dramatic  Idyls."  Among  his  latest  noteworthy  poems  were 
"  Pheidippides  "  and  "  Tray,"  the  latter  being  a  protest  against  vivi- 
section. Browning  was  vice-president  of  the  Anti-vivisection  Society 
at  this  time,  and  denounced  the  practice  as  cowardly  even  if  it  could 
be  proved  useful. 

In  1881  his  growing  popularity  was  attested  by  the  fact  that  a 
Browning  Society  was  formed  in  London,  being  the  precursor  of 
many  other  such  societies  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

He  died  at  the  Palazzo  Rezzonico,  Venice,  October  12,  1889,  and 
was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  December  31. 


ROBERT  BROWNING  451 

The  most  noticeable  characteristic  of  Browning's  poetry  is  its 
obscurity.  Mr.  G.  K.  Chesterton,  the  brilliant  author  of  the  "  Life 
of  Browning  "  in  the  English  Men  of  Letters  series,  says  facetiously: 
"  He  was  clever  enough  to  understand  his  own  poetry;  and,  if  he 
understood  it,  we  can  understand  it."  A  feminine  admirer  once  asked 
Browning,  however,  what  one  of  his  poems  meant,  and  received  this 
reply:  "  When  that  poem  was  written,  two  people  knew  what  it 
meant — God  and  Robert  Browning.  And  now  God  only  knows  what 
it  means."  Though  a  good  enough  story,  this  anecdote  is  probably 
not  true.  At  all  events,  most  of  Browning's  poems  have  a  meaning 
which  study  will  reveal.  They  seem  obscure  because  he  has  a  curious 
fashion  of  proclaiming  conclusions  without  bothering  to  explain  how 
he  arrived  at  them.  "  The  word  '  tail  foremost,'  "  says  Chesterton, 
"  describes  his  style.  .  .  .  The  tail,  the  most  insignificant  part 
of  an  animal,  is  also  often  the  most  animated  and  fantastic.  An 
utterance  of  Browning  is  often  like  a  strange  animal  walking  back- 
wards, who  flourishes  his  tail  with  such  energy  that  everyone  takes 
it  for  his  head." 

To  the  reader  who  has  made  this  discovery,  however,  the  poetry 
of  Browning  is  a  perpetual  delight.  Much  of  it,  indeed,  is  as  clear 
as  Tennyson's.  "  The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamlin,"  "  Cavalier  Tunes," 
"  How  They  Brought  the  Good  News  from  Ghent  to  Aix,"  "  Herve 
Riel,"  "  Incident  of  the  French  Camp,"  "  Pheidippides,"  and  "  Tray," 
not  to  mention  scores  of  others,  are  intelligible  to  a  child.  Among 
Browning's  solid  contributions  to  literature  are  several  new  forms 
of  poetry.  Of  these  the  most  noteworthy  are  the  dramatic  lyric; 
the  series  of  detached  dramas  held  together  by  one  character,  of  which 
"  Pippa  Passes  "  is  the  best  type;  and  "  The  Ring  and  the  Book," 
which  is  the  exact  converse,  being  one  story  told  by  various  persons. 
The  finest  thing  about  Browning,  however,  was  his  intense  humanity. 
He  was  as  human  as  Burns  or  Byron,  but,  unlike  them  and  like 
Shakespeare  and  Sophocles,  he  saw  life  steadily  and  saw  it  whole. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  poets  influenced  Browning's  earliest  leanings? 

2.  How  was  his  first  poem  received? 

3.  Read  six  of  Browning's  dramatic  lyrics  and  tell  to  the  class  the  anec- 

dotes presented  in  them. 


452 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


4.  What  is  the  structure  of  "The  Ring  and  the  Book"? 

5.  Are  the  poems  you  have  read  of  Browning's   obscure?     Discuss   his 

obscurity  with  your  classmates  and  determine  whether  it  is  the  fault 
of  the  poet  or  yourselves. 

6.  From  what  art  did  Browning  receive  most  inspiration  ? 

7.  Was  Browning  interested  in  his  fellow-men?     Give  a  reason  for  your 

answer. 

8.  Wlio  was  Andrea  del  Sarto?     Who  was  Fra  Lippo  Lippi? 

9.  Does  Browning  appeal  to  the  intellect  or  to  the  emotions,  or  to  both? 
ID.  Discuss   tile  differences  between  the  work  of  Tennyson  and  that  of 

Browning. 

Suggested  Readings. — "  Give,"  "  Fra  Lippo  Lippi,"  "  How  They 
Brought  tlic  (iood  News  from  Ghent  to  Aix,"  "  Prospice,"  "Rabbi  Ben 
Ezra,"  "  Childe  Roland,"  "  Saul,"  and  "  The  Lost  Leader  "  will  lead  the 
reader  on.     G.  K.  Chesterton's  book  upon  Browning  is  stimulating. 


CHAPTER  XL 
CHARLES    DICKENS    (1812-1870) 

"  The  one  Charles  Dickens  of  the  Enghsh  people." — Punch. 

"  The  great  and  beneficent  genius  who  through  the  course  of  a  whole 
generation  held  the  mind  of  English-speaking  folk  spell-bound." — R.  C. 
Lehman. 

"  Boz,"  wrote  a  kindly  but  acute  critic  about  1840,  "  is  the 
fictitious  signature  of  a  young  man  named  Charles  Dickens,  who  was 
for  some  years  engaged  as  a  writer  in  one  of  the  London  newspapers, 
which  he  enlivened  with  his  humorous  and  graphic  sketches.  He  has 
made  himself  familiar  with  the  peculiarities  of  the  people,  chiefly  of 
the  middle  and  lower  ranks,  which  he  has  the  knack  of  hitting  off 
in  a  singularly  droll  and  happy  manner."  After  pointing  out  the 
fact  that  London  furnishes  a  prodigious  mine  for  character  description, 
a  mine  previously  worked  only  by  Smollett  and  Washington  Irving, 
this  same  writer  adds:  "  Upon  this  mine  of  character  and  manners 
Boz  has  successfully  struck.  He  is  now  busy  in  the  work  of  excava- 
tion. The  chief  talent  of  this  clever  writer  consists  in  close  perception 
not  only  of  character  but  of  every  minute  circumstance  and  local 
peculiarity." 

The  young  man  who  thus  made  his  bow  to  the  British  public  was 
born  at  Landport  February  7,  1812.  His  baptismal  name  was 
Charles  John  Huffham  Dickens.  His  father,  a  clerk  in  the  navy  pay 
office,  was  employed  during  most  of  Charles's  youth  at  Chatham,  and 
here  the  boy  grew  in  surroundings  composed  of  soldiers,  sailors,  Jews, 
chalk,  shrimps,  offices,  and  dock-yard  men.  A  wise  schoolmaster, 
Mr.  William  Giles,  soon  discovered  his  talents  and  encouraged  him 
to  use  them,  so  that,  as  Dickens  himself  said,  he  was  a  writer  when 
a  mere  baby,  an  actor  always.  Before  he  was  nine  he  had  managed 
private  theatricals,  written  a  tragedy,  and  read  several  books  of  travel, 
"  The  Arabian  Nights,"  the  English  essayists,  Mrs.  Inchbald's  col- 
lection of  farces,  and  the  novels  of  Fielding,  Smollett,  Cervantes,  and 
LeSage.    In  1821  misfortune  overtook  the  elder  Dickens,  who,  though 

453 


454  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

honorable  and  kindly,  was  a  trifle  easy-going  and  may  in  some  other 
respects  have  furnished  hints  for  the  portrait  of  Mr.  Micawber  in 
"  David  Copperfield."  At  all  events  he  lost  his  job,  allowed  his 
son's  education  to  take  care  of  itself,  and  soon  found  himself  in  jail 
for  debt.  Charles  in  consequence  underwent  the  series  of  humiUating 
experiences  which  he  described,  twenty-five  years  later,  in  those  won- 
derful early  chapters  of  "  David  Copperfield  "  with  which  every 
American  child  is  of  course  familiar.  His  father's  release  from  prison 
enabled  him  to  put  Charles  at  a  school  where  the  head  master,  like 
Mr.  Creakle,  knew  nothing,  and  the  usher,  like  Mr.  Mell,  knew  every- 
thing. From  this  institution  he  passed  after  two  or  three  years  of 
work  and  play  to  a  clerkship  in  a  law  office,  where  he  picked  up  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  legal  technicalities  and  lawyers  to  satirize  both 
with  intelligence  and  severity.  At  seventeen  he  determined  to  become 
a  newspaper  reporter  and  accordingly  set  himself  to  learn  the  ponderous 
shorthand  of  those  days,  a  task  in  which  he  found  himself  seriously 
handicapped  by  the  lack  of  a  copious  vocabulary,  which  is  a  posses- 
sion that  can  be  acquired  only  by  much  reading.  Strength  of  will  and 
a  determination  if  he  did  a  thing  at  all  to  do  it  thoroughly  enabled 
him  ultimately  to  overcome  both  obstacles;  in  1831  he  obtained 
employment  as  a  parliamentary  reporter;  in  1834  he  became  a 
reporter  on  the  "  Morning  Chronicle  ";  in  performing  the  duties  of 
that  fascinating  job  he  was  upset  in  almost  every  description  of  vehicle 
known  in  England;  and  when  in  1836  his  labors  as  a  reporter  came  to 
an  end  he  was  held  to  have  no  equal  in  the  gallery  of  Parliament. 

The  latter  event  was  caused  by  the  fact  that,  in  1833,  Dickens 
had  dropped  into  the  letter-box  of  "  The  Monthly  Magazine  "  a  paper 
called  "  A  Dinner  at  Poplar  Walk."  It  had  succeeded  and  had  been 
followed  by  others;  these  had  been  collected  into  two  volumes;  and 
for  the  copyright  he  had  received  150  pounds,  which  was  an  unlucky 
bargain,  as  he  soon  repurchased  it  for  more  than  thirteen  times 
that  sum:  This  advance  in  price  was  due  to  the  extraordinary  success 
of  "  The  Pickwick  Papers,"  the  first  number  of  whir^  appeared 
March  31,  1836. 

The  popularity  of  "  Pickwick  "  became  and  remained  so  great  that 
Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby  was  seriously  alarmed  lest  it  corrupt  the  morals 


CHARLES  DICKENS 


455 


of  his  pupils.  Twenty  years  later  young  men  at  Oxford  talked  nothing 
but  Pickwick  and  the  wittiest  of  undergraduates  set  the  world  at 
large  an  examination  in  "  Pickwick,"  which  is  only  less  fascinating 
and  famous  than  the  book  itself.    To-day  it  seems  to  retain  its  hold 


CHARLES  DICKENS 

1812^1870 

on  readers  in  England,  in  America,  and  in  lands  where  it  is  read  in 
translations,  for  no  one  has  as  yet  been  able  to  produce  a  translation 
dull  enough  to  spoil  its  relish.  The  origin  of  this  wonderful  success, 
like  the  origin  of  "  Pamela,"  was  humble.    Attracted  by  the  popu- 


456  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

larity  of  Boz's  Sketches,  a  publishing  firm  asked  Dickens  to  write 
something  to  illustrate  some  plates  by  a  comic  artist  named  Seymour. 
Seymour  committed  suicide  before  the  second  paper  appeared,  and 
among  the  unsuccessful  applicants  for  his  job  was  a  young  man  named 
William  Makepeace  Thackeray.  The  papers,  however,  soon  out- 
stripped the  pictures  in  popularity,  and  finally  developed  into  one 
of  the  most  laughable  and  lovable  novels  ever  written.  It  is  almost 
impossible  to  describe  it  to  anybody  who  has  not  read  it  and  to 
describe  it  to  anybody  who  has  is  an  impertinence.  Indeed  it  may  be 
said  that  a  familiarity  with  Mr.  Picwick  himself,  with  his  immortal 
servant  Sam  Weller,  and  with  the  details  of  the  trial  of  Bardell  vs. 
Pickwick  have  ever  since  been  necessary  ingredients  in  a  liberal 
education. 

"  Pickwick  "  was  followed  by  "  The  Adventures  of  Oliver  Twist," 
in  which  the  author  set  before  the  British  public  such  a  picture  of  the 
dregs  of  life  as  it  had  never  seen  before,  a  picture  terrible  in  its 
revelations  of  human  depravity  and  in  the  intensity  of  its  tragic 
scenes  but  redeemed  from  all  vulgarity  by  the  power  of  sympathy 
which  enabled  the  author  to  depict  the  devotion  and  heroism  of 
Nancy,  the  vivacity  of  the  Artful  Dodger,  and  the  good  humor  of 
Charley  Bates.  "  Pickwick  "  made  his  readers  merry;  in  "  Oliver 
Twist  "  he  thrilled  them;  and  both  books  made  them  think  better  of 
mankind.  The  power  of  the  book  is  irresistible.  No  reader  can  forget 
Fagin  the  Jew  or  the  breathless  excitement  of  the  chapters  that  precede 
his  downfall  and  that  of  his  brutal  accomplice  Sikes. 

In  April,  1838,  several  montns  before  the  completion  of  "  Oliver 
Twist,"  appeared  the  first  number  of  "  Nicholas  Nickleby."  The 
pleasantly  metallic  jingle  of  this  name  suggests  its  purpose.  It  is 
a  savage  but  deserved  attack  on  certain  schools  and  schoolmasters 
whose  aims  were  not  to  teach  boys  but  to  make  money.  Oliver  Twist 
in  the  workhouse  and  Smike  at  Dotheboys  Hall  are  Dickens's  immor- 
tal protests  against  that  brutality  from  which  he  himself  had  suffered 
as  a  boy  at  school,  and  the  sweet  reasonableness  of  modern  peda- 
gogues is  no  doubt  due  in  some  measure  to  his  warfare  against  their 
brutal  predecessors  who  are  depicted  in  Mr.  Squeers.  The  book, 
however,  is  full  nf  fun.     Its  best  comic  figure  is  the  verbose,  round- 


CHARLES  DICKENS  457 

about,   and   parenthetic    Mrs.   Nickleby,   who   never    deviates    into 
coherence. 

"  Nicholas  Nickleby  "  was  followed  1840  by  "  The  Old  Curiosity 
Shop,"  a  book  which  has  since  made  four  generations  of  readers, 
including  Lord  Macaulay  and  Walter  Savage  Landor,  glad,  afraid, 
angry,  and  sad.  Dick  Swiveller  and  the  Marchioness,  Sally  Brass 
and  Quilp,  are  loved  and  hated  with  an  intensity  seldom  excited  even 
by  live  people.  But  the  most  wonderful  picture  in  the  book  is  that 
of  Little  Nell.  Dickens  afterward  formed  other  characters  not  less 
affecting  but  none  so  essentially  poetic. 

Dickens's  next  book,  "  Barnaby  Rudge,"  was  less  successful, 
though  it  contains  the  justly  famous  and  popular  portrait  of  Dolly 
Varden,  a  charming  type  of  eighteenth  century  girl,  and  the  scarcely 
less  famous  picture  of  Grip  the  Raven.  With  the  exception  of  "  A 
Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  "  Barnaby  Rudge  "  is  Dickens's  only  historical 
novel.  It  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the  Lord  George  Gordon  riots  of 
1780,  but  it  is  none  too  accurate,  Dickens,  unlike  Scott,  not  being 
at  once  a  student  of  books  and  of  men. 

Probably  Dickens  felt  that  this  was  the  case.  His  less  decisive 
success  with  "  Barnaby  Rudge  "  seems  to  have  led  him  to  seek  fresh 
material  in  strange  lands.  At  all  events  on  January  28,  1842,  after 
a  rough  voyage,  he  and  his  wife  landed  in  Boston.  Their  stay  in  the 
United  States  lasted  about  four  months  and  included  visits  to  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Richmond,  Cincinnati, 
St.  Louis,  Chicago,  and  Buffalo.  Then  they  passed  by  Niagara  into 
Canada,  visited  Montreal,  and  were  safe  at  home  again  in  July. 

The  literary  results  of  this  tour  were  a  volume  called  "  American 
Notes  "  and  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit,"  one  of  Dickens's  best  novels. 
Both  gave  great  offence  to  Americans  and  were  evidently  meant  to 
give  offence.  Even  the  Mississippi  River,  "  great  father  of  rivers,  who 
(praise  be  to  Heaven)  has  no  young  children  like  him,"  was  insulted. 
In  spite  of  all  this,  when  Dickens  again  visited  America  in  1868,  he 
was  received  with  great  cordiality  and  apologized  handsomely.  The 
fact  is  that  in  his  satire,  mixed  with  some  injustice,  there  was  much 
truth,  and  if  he  is  hard  in  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit  "  on  Americans  he 
is  equally  hard  on  Englishmen.     The  former  have  no  more  reason  to 


458  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

be  angry  with  Mr.  Jefferson  Brick  than  the  latter  with  the  portrait 
of  Mr.  Pecksniff,  in  which  he  drew  an  immortal  picture  of  the  favorite 
English  vice  of  hypocrisy,  and  that  of  Mrs.  Gamp,  by  means  of 
which  he  drove  out  of  existence  a  generation  of  untrained  nurses. 

Dickens's  nature  indeed  was  full  of  kindliness.  To  cultivate  good 
will,  founded  upon  respect,  toward  the  poor  was  always  one  of  his 
chief  ambitions.  During  the  holiday  seasons  of  1843,  1844,  1845, 
1846,  and  1848,  in  his  delightful  Christmas  books  he  bestowed  upon 
the  world  his  most  successful  efforts  in  this  direction.  Of  these  "  The 
Cricket  on  the  Hearth  "  and  "  The  Christmas  Carol  "  are  perhaps 
the  best;  but  all  of  them,  filled  as  they  are  with  holly,  mistletoe,  red 
berries,  ivy,  turkeys,  geese,  game,  poultry,  brawn,  meat,  pigs,  sausages, 
oNSters,  pies,  puddings,  fruit,  and  punch,  continue  to  enjoy  a  popu- 
larity which  they  richly  deserve. 

"  Martin  Chuzzlewit  "  is  a  satire  on  selfishness.  In  "  Dombey 
and  Son,"  which  began  to  appear  in  1847,  Dickens  sought  to  show 
w^hat  pride  cannot  achieve,  conquer,  or  withstand.  The  story  of  Mr. 
Dombey's  pride  in  little  Paul,  of  his  cruelty  toward  his  daughter 
Florence,  of  Paul's  death,  and  of  Florence's  love  is  at  once  one  of  the 
subtlest  and  most  impressive  in  literature,  while  the  death  of  Carker 
is  wondrously  powerful.  The  book  is  also  rich  in  comic  characters 
and  Captain  Cuttle  is  one  of  Dickens's  most  agreeable  creations.  In- 
deed it  seemed  that  in  this  great  book  Dickens  had  reached  a  height 
beyond  which  even  his  genius  could  not  rise. 

Yet  this  is  exactly  what  happened.  The  first  number  of  "  David 
Copperfield  "  was  published  in  May,  1849,  the  last  in  November, 
1850.  As  Adolphus  W.  Ward  says,  it  is  a  pearl  without  a  peer  amongst 
the  later  fictions  of  our  English  school.  "  Of  all  my  books,"  the 
author  said  himself,  "  I  like  this  the  best.  It  vdll  be  easily  believed 
that  I  am  a  fond  parent  to  every  child  of  my  fancy.  But,  like  many 
fond  parents,  I  have  in  my  heart  of  hearts  a  favourite  child — and  his 
name  is  David  Copperfield."  David  Copperfield  is  Dickens.  He 
put  into  it  his  life's  blood.  It  is  in  reality  the  most  delightful  of  all 
autobiographies.  It  contains  the  stor}'  of  his  own  sordid  and  unhappy 
chiUlhood,  of  his  early  love,  and  of  his  gradual  rise  to  fame.  It  is 
all  real  and  yet  a  triumph  of  art.     The  number,  variety,  and  truth 


CHARLES  DICKENS  459 

of  the  characters  is  marvelous  even  for  Dickens.  The  shapeless  nurse 
Peggotty,  Barkis  the  willing,  Little  Emily,  Ham,  Mrs.  Gummidge  that 
lone  lorn  creature,  Mr.  Wilkins  Micawber,  Mrs.  Micawber  and  the 
twins,  Mr.  Creakle  the  schoolmaster,  Aunt  Betsy  Trotwood,  Mr.  Dick 
and  his  kites,  'umble  Uriah  Heep,  Traddles  and  the  dearest  girl,  that 
delicious  little  fool  Dora,  Gyp,  and  Agnes,  sweetest  and  noblest  of 
heroines, — all  are  as  true  and  unforgettable  as  Hamlet  and  Mercutio, 
Rebecca  and  Ivanhoe.  The  style  is  as  good  as  Stevenson's,  which  is 
by  no  means  true  of  all  of  Dickens's  work.  The  student  who  has 
time  for  only  one  of  his  books  should  read  "  David  Copperfield,"  for 
if  he  reads  "  David  Copperfield  "  he  will  surely  find  time  to  read 
the  rest. 

The  man  who  had  done  all  of  this  great  work  was  now  an  intensely 
human  gentleman  of  38.  From  his  youth  he  had  been  accustomed 
not  only  to  work  but  also  to  play  hard.  He  was  a  bom  actor, 
believing  that  the  world  falls  into  two  divisions  only — those  whose 
place  is  before  and  those  whose  place  is  behind  the  footlights.  His 
love  of  the  stage  led  him  to  associate  with  actors,  Macready  and 
Fechter  being  among  his  dearest  friends,  and,  after  he  had  become 
a  successful  novelist,  to  manage  and  conduct  amateur  theatricals, 
if  the  word  "  amateur  "  can  be  applied  to  productions  of  "  Every  Man 
in  his  Humour  "  and  "  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,"  acted  with 
great  applause  in  London,  Liverpool,  and  Manchester,  and  of  Bulwer 
Lytton's  "  Not  so  Bad  as  We  Seem,"  played  before  the  Queen  with 
scenery  painted  by  the  best  artists.  The  proceeds  went  to  charity. 
Dickens  was  also  an  editor  and  on  the  whole  a  successful  one,  doing 
much  in  "  Household  Words  "  and  "  All  the  Year  Round  "  to  make 
periodical  literature  reputable  and  certainly  making  it  popular.  To 
these  magazines  he  contributed  his  agreeable  "  Letters  of  an  Uncom- 
mercial Traveller  "  and  his  disagreeable  but  powerful  novel  "  Hard 
Times."  In  the  midst  of  his  labors  he  found  abundant  leisure  to  take 
vacations  in  Italy,  France,  and  England,  mainly  at  seaside  resorts, 
and  to  cultivate  his  friends,  among  whom  he  numbered  his  biographer 
Forster;  the  great  portrait  painter  Maclise;  Landseer,  whose  dogs 
and  lions  live  in  immortal  canvas,  stone,  and  bronze;  Douglas  Jerrold, 
prince  of  punsters;  Lord  Lytton,  who  wrote  the  "  Last  Days  of  Pom- 


^^llXlA^ 


t 


■-- r 


c 


> 


CHARLES  DICKENS  461 

emotions  of  pity  and  fear  to  a  degree  seldom  attained  by  any  tragic 
writer.  In  "  Great  Expectations,"  which  was  completed  1860, 
Dickens  returned  to  his  earlier  manner  with  a  narrative  in  which 
description,  sentiment,  humor^  tenderness,  and  insight  into  the  world 
of  a  child  mind  were  combined  in  his  own  matchless  manner.  In  the 
meantime  his  health  began  to  break.  In  1865  he  had  a  severe  illness, 
the  consequences  of  which  were  aggravated  by  his  being  in  a  rail- 
way train  which  met  with  a  fearful  accident.  He  never  fully  recov- 
ered, but  in  the  midst  of  his  difficulties  contrived  to  finish  his  last 
great  novel,  "  Our  Mutual  Friend."  In  spite  of  his  growing  infirmi- 
ties, he  continued  his  readings,  made  a  second  trip  1868  to  America, 
and  set  to  work  on  a  new  book,  "  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood," 
which  was  never  finished.  He  died  June  9,  1870,  and  was  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Perhaps  his  final  place  in  literature  has  never  been  better  sug- 
gested than  in  the  following  words  of  Alexander  Smith:  "  If  Mr. 
Dickens's  characters  were  gathered  together,  they  would  constitute 
a  town  populous  enough  to  send  a  representative  to  Parliament.  Let 
us  enter.  There  is  an  individuality  about  the  buildings.  In  some 
obscure  way  they  remind  us  of  human  faces.  Newman  Noggs  comes 
shambling  along.  Mr.  and  the  Misses  Pecksniff  come  sailing  down 
the  sunny  side  of  the  street.  Miss  Mercy's  parasol  is  gay;  papa's 
neckcloth  is  white  and  terribly  starched.  Dick  Swiveller  stands 
against  a  wall,  a  primrose  held  between  his  teeth.  You  turn  a  corner 
and  you  meet  the  coffin  of  Little  Paul  borne  along.  In  the  afternoon 
you  hear  the  rich  tones  of  the  organ  from  Miss  La  Creevy's  first  floor, 
for  Tom  Pinch  has  gone  to  live  there  now,  and  you  go  up  and  talk 
with  the  dear  old  fellow  and  towards  evening  he  takes  your  arm  and 
you  walk  out  to  see  poor  Nelly's  grave." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  In  a  three-minute  talk  tell  the  class  what  novels  of  Dickens  you  have 

read,  when  you  read  them,  the  characters  you  liked  and  disliked, 
and  all  impressions  made  upon  you  by  this  author. 

2.  Tell  of  Dickens's  parentage,  boyhood,  and  youth. 

3.  What   English  and   European   novelists   influenced   Dickens? 

4.  How  were  the  "Pickwick  Papers"  received? 

5.  In  what  form  were  Dickens's  novels  first  published? 


CHAPTER  XLI 

WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY  (1811-1863) 

"A  Titan  of  mind." — Charlotte  Bronte. 

"  O   gentle  censor  of  our  age ! 

Prime  master  of  our  ampler  tongue ! 
Whose  word  of  wit  and  generous  page 
Were  never  wrath,  except  with  wrong." 

— Lord  Houghton. 

Somebody  has  called  Dickens  the  novelist  of  the  masses  and 
Thackeray  the  novelist  of  the  classes.  In  the  sense  that  Thackeray 
drew  better  pictures  of  the  upper  classes  of  society  than  Dickens  this 
is  a  true  distinction,  but  in  the  sense  that  Dickens's  portraits  are 
more  realistic  than  Thackeray's  it  is  not  true.  Thackeray's  men  and 
women  are  as  natural  and  as  universally  understandable  as  Dickens's. 
Indeed,  great  as  Dickens  is,  it  is  altogether  probable  that  Thackeray 
will  ultimately  stand  higher  in  fame. 

He  was  born  July  18,  1811,  in  Calcutta.  His  father  and  grand- 
father were  Indian  civil  servants.  He  was  brought  as  a  child  to 
England  and  sent  to  school  at  the  Charter  House,  which  he  always 
spoke  of  in  his  earlier  books  as  the  Slaughter  House.  Here  in  a  fight 
he  acquired  a  broken  nose  and  in  his  more  peaceful  moments  a  repu- 
tation among  the  boys  as  a  writer  of  parodies.  In  one  of  these,  on 
a  sentimental  poem  then  popular,  he  substituted  for  "  violets,  dark 
blue  violets  "  the  phrase  "  cabbages,  bright  green  cabbages."  In 
1829  he  was  entered  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  Here  he  edited 
a  paper  called  "  The  Snob,"  dedicated  to  all  Proctors,  past,  present, 
and  future — 

"  Whose  taste   it  is  our  privilege  to   follow, 
Whose  virtue  it  is  our  duty  to  imitate, 
Whose  presence  it  is  our  interest  to  avoid." 

Perhaps  the  best  of  his  contributions  to  this  publication  was  a  parody 
on  Alfred  Tennyson's  "  Timbuctoo,"  which  had  just  won  the  Chan- 
cellor's prize  for  English  verse.  He  left  Cambridge  1830  and  resided 
for  some  time  thereafter  on  the  continent,  chiefly  at  Weimar  and  in 

463 


!JN  r 

i 

r  ^ 

t    t 


r 


1 


f 

V 


i     f 

1  f 
r    t    I 

t  t 
r    f    « 

r  t 
t 

r 


m 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


U^ 


t64 

Paris   his  purpose  being  to  become  an  artist.  ^Mtists 
ever  learnedTo  draw,  but  he  did  at  a"  e-^  ^^^ 
ing  exquisitely  funny  pictuo^-Bstlne  of  his  ea 
tion  represents  a  messenj-^ 
ing  a  despatch  to  the  U 
ball  has  just  carried 
with  which  the  duk| 
of^^l^eadlesstru 
ickwiCj 
Jlv 


WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY  465 

Among  other  things  he  wrote  for  "  Punch  "  were  "  The  Snob  Papers  " 
and  "  The  Ballads  of  PoHceman  X."  "  The  Irish  Sketch  Book  " 
came  out  in  1843  and  "  From  Cornhill  to  Grand  Cairo  "  in  1844. 
Though  he  printed  all  of  these  under  the  name  of  Titmarsh,  their 
merit  gradually  made  him  known  in  the  literary  world.     Finally,  in 


WILLIAM   MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY 
i8ii — 1863 
From  the  portrait  by  Samuel  Laurence 

1846,  he  began  the  publication  under  his  own  name  of  his  first  long 
novel,  "  Vanity  Fair,"  and  was  famous. 

"  Vanity    Fair  "   has   neither   plot   nor   hero.      Its   lack   of   the 
former  is  due  probably  to  the  fact  that  it  came  out  in  numbers. 
30 


4Gi 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


Paris,  his  purpose  being  to  become  an  artist.  Artists  say  that  he 
never  learned  to  draw,  but  he  did  at  all  events  acquire  the  art  of  mak- 
ing exquisitely  funny  pictures.  One  of  his  early  efforts  in  this  direc- 
tion represents  a  messenger  kneeling  on  the  field  of  battle  and  deliver- 
ing a  despatch  to  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  on  horseback.  A  cannon 
ball  has  just  carried  off  the  mesenger's  head,  but  the  graceful  ease 
with  which  the  duke  receives  the  message  and  the  soldier-like  attitude 
of  the  headless  trunk  form  a  lovely  contrast  to  the  tragedy  of  the  scene. 
When  "  Pickwick  "  was  in  need  of  an  illustrator,  Thackeray  applied 
unsuccessfully  for  the  job,  but  in  later  years  made  the  pictures  for 
his  own  books  and  made  them,  drawing  or  no  drawing,  with  a  com- 
bination of  humor  and  fidelity  as  delightful  as  it  is  rare. 

In  1832  he  came  of  age  and  inherited  a  fortune  of  500  pounds  a 
year,  which  he  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of,  interest  and  principal,  in 
a  year  or  two,  partly  at  cards  but  mostly  through  the  smoothness  of 
a  popular  preacher,  who  used  to  cry  a  good  deal  in  the  pulpit.  This 
worthy  induced  Makepeace  to  start  a  magazine.  He  later  described 
his  own  folly  in  thes3  words:  "  I  daresay  I  gave  myself  airs  as  the 
editor  of  that  confounded  '  Museum,'  and  proposed  to  educate  the 
public  taste,  to  diffuse  morality  and  sound  literature  throughout  the 
nation,  and  to  pocket  a  liberal  salary  in  return  for  my  services.  I 
daresay  I  printed  my  own  sonnets,  my  own  tragedy,  my  own  verses. 
I  daresay  I  made  a  gaby  of  myself  to  the  world.  Pray,  my  good 
friend,  hast  thou  never  done  likewise?  If  thou  hast  never  been  a 
fool,  be  sure  thou  wilt  never  be  a  wise  man." 

His  money  being  gone  and  his  art  studies  having  failed,  Thackeray, 
like  Goldsmith,  tried  literature.  After  some  newspaper  experience 
he  formed  a  connection  with  "  Eraser's  Magazine,"  in  which  1837 
appeared  the  "  History  of  Samuel  Titmarsh  and  the  Great  Hoggarty 
Diamond."  The  editor  wanted  it  made  shorter,  but  nobody  wants 
it  or  any  of  his  other  books  made  shorter  now.  It  was  followed  by 
"  Harry  Lyndon,"  a  short  novel  in  which  with  inimitable  power  he 
drew  a  picture  of  the  most  consummate  rascal  in  all  literature.  In 
1840  he  brought  out  his  "  Paris  Sketch  Book."  About  the  same  time, 
in  a  good  day  for  himself,  the  journal,  and  the  world,  he  found 
"  Punch,"  to  which  from  1843  to  1853  he  was  a  regular  contributor. 


'Vanity  tv 
Kr  ij  (j-jj  •.. 


WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY  467 

heavens.  He  became  thenceforth  the  companion  and  friend  of  the 
most  famous  men  in  London.  Though  not  a  good  talker  in  a  large 
party,  he  was  a  charming  companion.  Drawings  and  pearls  of  wit 
emanated  constantly  from  him.  He  was  always  versifying  for  his 
friends.  He  once  owed  Anthony  Trollope  five  pounds,  seventeen 
shiUings,  and  sixpence  as  his  share  of  a  dinner  bill  at  Richmond,  and 
paid  it  by  means  of  a  cheque  in  rhyme.  About  this  time  a  truculent 
Irishman,  enraged  at  Thackeray's  portraits  of  his  countrymen,  called 
on  him  with  the  intention  of  thrashing  him.  Such,  however,  was  the 
novelist's  geniality  or  size  that  he  desisted  from  his  fell  design  and 
they  parted  friends.  Indeed  his  six  feet  four  of  height,  his  flowing 
hair  already  nearly  gray,  his  broken  nose,  his  broad  forehead,  and  his 
ample  chest  everywhere  inspired  both  love  and  respect. 

"  Pendennis,"  "  Henry  Esmond,"  and  "  The  Newcomes  "  followed 
"  Vanity  Fair  "  in  1850,  1852,  and  1854. 

"  Pendennis,"  one  suspects,  is  to  Thackeray  as  "  David  Copper- 
field  "  is  to  Dickens.  At  all  events  he  is  no  hero.  He  thrashed  the 
other  boys  at  school ;  fell  in  love  with  an  actress  when  he,  not  she,  was 
still  at  a  tender  age;  was  rescued  from  her  toils  by  his  padded  old  sinner 
of  an  uncle,  Major  Pendennis;  at  Boniface  College,  Oxford,  spent 
money  which  he  did  not  have,  gambled,  and  lied;  and  narrowly 
escaped  marrying  Miss  Blanche  Amory,  who  was  a  sham,  very  lovely 
in  the  evening  before  a  dance  but  rather  yellow  and  wrinkled  in  the 
morning  after  one.  However,  Pen  had  a  good  mother,  a  good  friend 
in  dear  rough  old  George  Warrington,  and  a  guardian  angel  of  a 
superior  kind  in  Laura,  with  whom  he  finally  settled  down  in  an 
elysium  of  undeserved  bliss.  In  addition  to  the  characters  already 
mentioned.  Captain  Costigan,  the  father  of  Miss  Fotheringay,  has 
a  rich  vein  of  humor  and  kindliness  that  makes  him  worth  knowing. 
The  chapter  in  which  Major  Pendennis  is  bidden  to  stand  and  deliver 
and  the  chapter  in  which  he  yields  neither  his  money  nor  his  life  are 
wonderfully  funny  and  exciting.     Read  them.     They  are  67  and  68. 

"  The  Newcomes "  is  supposed  to  be  edited  by  Pendennis. 
It  also  is  a  great  though  not  a  pleasant  book.  The  pictures  of 
Runmum  Loll,  an  Indian  merchant  who  masquerades  in  London  as 
a  prince  and  who,  though  he  is  known  to  have  two  wives  in  India,  is 


4(w  i:nc;lisii  i.nKH.viruE 

worshipped  b\-  the  London  girls:  oi  Mr.  Honoynian  the  clerg.vman; 
and  of  Barnes  Xewconie  are  powerful  satires.  Oi  Harnes  the  author 
writes:  "  Barnes  Xewcome  never  niisseii  a  church  or  dressing  for 
dinner.  He  never  kept  a  tradesman  wailing  for  his  money.  He 
seldom  drank  too  much,  and  never  was  late  for  business,  or  huddled 
over  his  toilet,  however  brief  his  sleep  or  severe  his  headache.  In 
a  word,  he  was  as  scrupulously  whited  as  any  sepulchre  in  the  whole 
bills  of  mortality."  Clive  Xewcome.  the  hero,  is  a  mediocre  yoimg 
painter,  whose  happiness  is  ruined  by  his  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Mack, 
the  Campaigner,  a  peculiarly  odious  she-demon.  Old  Colonel  New- 
come,  however,  is  altogether  lovely  and  heroic  and  gentle.  Ruined 
by  speculation,  he  dons  the  gown  of  a  charity  patient — he  the  soldier, 
the  gentleman,  the  aristocrat.  The  picture  of  his  last  days  Anthony 
Trollope  thought  the  best  thing  Thackeray  ever  did. 

"  Henry  Esmond  "  is  probably  Thackeray's  greatest  novel.  The 
events  occur  in  the  age  of  Queen  Anne  and  the  language  is  an  almost 
perfect  imitation  of  the  diction  of  Addison  and  Swift.  Henr>'  Esmond 
tells  the  stor>'  and  is  the  hero.  There  are  two  heroines.  Lady  Castle- 
wood  and  her  daughter  Beatrix.  Esmond  is  a  soldier,  but  likes  books 
and  cannot  swear  or  drink  like  other  soldiers.  He  loves  Beatrix  and 
is  loved  by  her  mother.  Beatrix,  however,  does  not  care  to  have  her 
dreams  of  ambition  disturbed  by  such  folly  as  love  and  becomes 
engaged  to  a  duke,  who  is  inopportunely  killed  in  a  duel.  Later  she 
becomes  attached  to  one  of  the  Stuart  princes.  Esmond  marries 
her  mother  and  settles  in  Virginia.  It  is  a  sad  story,  but  is  told  with 
wonderful  skill,  and  the  characters  of  Esmond,  Lady  Castlewood,  and 
Beatrix  are  drawn  with  great  art. 

"  Esmond "  appeared  1&S2.  In  1S5S  Thackeray  published  a 
sequel,  "  The  Virginians."  Twin  lads  named  Warrington,  grandsons 
of  Henry  Esmond,  are  the  central  figures.  While  the  book  has  no 
vacant  or  dull  pages,  it  lacks  the  unity  of  Esmond.  The  best  part 
of  it  is  perhaps  the  ston^-  of  the  later  fortunes  of  Beatrix  Esmond, 
who  had  married  a  bishop,  and  after  his  death  had  become  the 
Baroness  Bernstein. 

"  The  Virginians  "  was  Thackeray's  last  novel.  There  remain, 
however,  three  other  important  contributions  of  his  to  literature. 
These  are  his  lectures,  his  burlesques,  and  his  poems. 


WILLIAM  MAKEPEArE  THACKERAY  469 

Of  his  lectures  there  are  two  series,  "  The  English  Humorists  of 
the  Eighteenth  Century  "  and  "  The  Four  Georges."  He  wrote  the 
former  1859  and  delivered  them  in  many  places  both  in  England  and 
America.  The  authors  treated  are  .Swift,  Congreve,  Addison,  Steele, 
Prior,  Gay,  Pope,  Hogarth,  Smollett,  Fielding,  Sterne,  and  Gold- 
smith. What  he  says  of  them  is  pre-eminently  interesting  to  grown-up 
students  of  literature,  but  not  particularly  so  to  young  people.  The 
lectures  on  the  Georges  are  as  entertaining  as  they  could  be  in  view 
of  the  inherent  dullness  of  the  subject. 

His  burlesques,  on  the  other  hand,  are  delicious.  They  were  col- 
lected 1869  into  one  volume,  which  contains  "Novels  by  Eminent 
Hands,"  "  Jeames's  Diary,"  "  The  Tremendous  Adventures  of  Major 
Gahagan,"  "  A  Legend  of  the  Rhine,"  and  "  Rebecca  and  Rowena." 
Of  these  the  last  three  are  the  best  fun.  Major  Gahagan  is  as  good 
a  liar  as  Baron  Munchausen  or  Mark  Twain.  He  keeps  a  barrel  of 
gunpowder  under  his  bed,  with  a  candle  burning  for  fear  of  accidents, 
and  eats  the  leg  of  a  horse  in  Spain,  being  so  hungry  that  he  inadver- 
tently swallows  both  hoof  and  shoe.  "  The  Legend  of  the  Rhine  "  is 
full  of  gems  like  this  description  of  the  escape  of  a  fallen  knight's 
horse:  "  Away,  ay,  away  I  Away  amid  the  green  vineyards  and 
golden  cornfields;  away  up  the  steep  mountains,  where  he  frightened 
the  eagles  in  their  eyries;  away  down  the  clattering  ravines,  where 
the  ilashing  cataracts  tumble;  away  through  the  dark  pine- forests, 
where  the  hungry  wolves  are  howling;  away  over  the  dreary  wolds, 
where  the  wild  wind  walks  alone;  away  through  the  splashing  quag- 
mires, where  the  will-o'-the-wisp  slunk  frightened  among  the  reeds. 
Brave  horse!  Gallant  steed!  Snorting  child  of  Araby!  On  went  the 
horse,  over  mountains,  rivers,  turnpikes,  applewomen;  and  never 
stopped  till  he  reached  a  livery  stable  in  Cologne,  where  his  master 
was  accustomed  to  put  him  up!  " 

But  the  best  of  these  burlesques  is  "  Rebecca  and  Row^ena," 
which  is  a  continuation  of  Scott's  "  Ivanhoe."  Ivanhoe  after  his 
marriage  to  Rowena  is  so  henpecked  that  he  leaves  home,  finds  King 
Richard  fighting  Moors  in  France,  twits  the  monarch  for  palming 
off  as  his  own  a  song  of  Charles  Lever's,  himself  composes  and  sings 
a  wonderful  ballad  about  King  Canute,  is  killed  by  Sir  Roger  de 


470  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Hackbite,  and  is  made  the  subject  of  this  magnificent  Latin  epitaph, 
which  was  translated  by  Wamba  into  equally  graceful  English: 

"Hie  est  Guilfridus,  belli  dum  vixit  avidus. 
Cum  gladio  et  lancea  Normannia  et  quoque  Francia 
Verbena  dura  dabat.     Per  Turcos  multum  equitabat. 
Guilbertum  occidit ;  atque  Hyerosolyma  vidit. 
Heu !  nunc  sub  fossa  sunt  tanti  militis  ossa. 
Uxor  Athelstani  est  conjux  castissima  Tliani." 

But,  though  he  was  buried  and  Rowena  married  to  Athelstane,  Ivan- 
hoe  was  not  dead.  After  being  in  bed  for  six  years,  he  returns  to 
England  sad  of  heart,  kills  countless  robbers,  forces  King  John  to  sign 
Magna  Charta,  and  beats  off  th^  royal  army,  which  has  attacked 
Rotherwood.  In  the  fight  Athelstane  is  killed.  Rowena,  on  her 
deathbed,  tries  to  get  her  former  spouse  to  promise  never  to  marry 
a  Jewess,  but  in  vain.  Then  he  puts  her  son  to  school  at  Dotheboys 
Hall,  takes  ship  in  Bohemia,  goes  to  Spain,  kills  50,000  Moors, 
rescues  Rebecca  from  incarceration  in  the  back  kitchen,  and  makes 
her  Mrs.  Ivanhoe. 

Thackeray  is  seldom  called  a  poet,  yet  he  wrote  some  of  the  most 
agreeable  verses  that  our  language  boasts.  They  consist  of  a  mixture 
of  skillful  metrification,  rollicking  fun,  imagination,  and  genuine  feel- 
ing the  like  of  which  cannot  be  found  elsewhere.  "  Peg  of  Lima- 
vaddy,"  "  The  White  Squall,"  "  The  Age  of  Wisdom,"  "  The  Cane- 
l)ottomed  Chair,"  "  At  the  Church  Gate,"  "  The  End  of  the  Play," 
"  The  Pen  and  the  Album,"  "  The  Sorrows  of  Werther,"  "  Little 
Billee,"  "  The  Merry  Bard,"  "  King  Canute,"  "  The  Willow  Tree," 
"  The  Rose  of  Flora,"  "  Larry  O'Toole,"  "  Mr.  Molony's  Account  of 
the  Ball,"  and  "  The  Ballad  of  Bouillabaisse  "  are  all  too  good,  as 
Izaak  Walton  might  have  said,  for  any  but  anglers  or  very  honest 
people. 

Thackeray's  last  great  work  was  the  editorship  of  "  The  Comhill 
Magazine,"  which  was  founded  1859.  Of  the  first  number  over 
1 10,000  were  sold.  It  was  no  wonder,  for  it  included  the  first  install- 
ments of  Anthony  Trollope's  novel  "  Framley  Parsonage,"  a  paper 
on  "  The  Chinese  and  Outer  Barbarians,"  by  Sir  John  Bowring,  the 
first  number  of  Thackeray's  "  Lovel  the  Widower,"  "  Studies  in  Ani- 


WILLIAM  IVLVKEPEACE  THACKERAY  471 

mal  Life,"  by  George  Lewes,  a  dedication  ode  by  Father  Prout,  "  Our 
Volunteers,"  by  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  "  A  Man  of  Letters  of  the  Last 
Century,"  by  Thornton  Hunt,  "  The  Search  for  Sir  John  Franklin," 
by  Sir  Alan  Young,  and  the  first  of  those  "  Roundabout  Papers,"  by 
Thackeray  himself,  which  became  so  delightful  a  feature  of  the 
"  Cornhill."  Among  the  contributors  to  later  numbers  were  Tenny- 
son, Mrs.  Stowe,  Mrs.  Browning,  Mrs.  Gaskell,  John  Ruskin,  Matthew 
Arnold.  Thackeray  guided  the  magazine  for  over  two  years  until 
1862  with  great  success,  but  he  was  too  kindly  for  such  a  job.  It  was 
almost  impossible  for  him  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  a  tale  of  woe  when  it 
emanated  from  a  needy  scribbler. 

Besides,  he  had  grown  prematurely  old.  His  health  for  some  years 
had  been  wretched.  As  early  as  1858  his  huge  frame  was  stooped 
and  his  hair  gray.  Consequently  there  was  no  great  surprise  among 
his  friends  when  he  died  very  suddenly  December  24,  1863.  He  was 
buried  December  30,  in  Kensal  Green,  and  as  soon  as  it  could  be 
executed  a  bust  to  his  memory  was  put  up  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

He  told  Anthony  Trollope  a  little  before  his  death  that  he  had 
succeeded  in  replacing  the  fortune  which  he  had  lost  as  a  young  man. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  done  more;  he  left  an  estate  worth  750 
pounds  a  year. 

Of  his  personal  traits  the  most  remarkable  was  a  certain  feminine 
softness.  To  give  some  immediate  pleasure  was  the  great  delight  of 
his  life — a  sovereign  to  a  schoolboy,  gloves  to  a  girl,  a  dinner  to  a 
man,  a  compliment  to  a  woman.  His  charity  was  overflowing.  If 
his  writings  were  cynical,  he  himself  was  sweet  as  charity  itself.  He 
went  about  the  world  doing  good,  dropping  pearls  of  mirthful  wisdom, 
and  never  wilfully  inflicting  a  wound. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  In  what  capacity  did  Thackeray  first  come  into  contact  with  Dickens? 

2.  Outline  Thackeray's  career  up  until  1846. 

3.  Define  and  discuss  satire. 

4.  What  are  the  qualities  and  wlio  are  tlic  leading  characters  in  "  Vanity 

Fair  "  ? 

5.  What  magazine  did  Thackeray  start  ? 

6.  Compare  Tliackeray's  suliject  matter  with   Dickens's, 


47^  KN(.1.I>11   lirKKATIRE 

~.  If  you  have  read  one  oi  Tliackcrays  iiovels  compare  its  appeal  with  that 

novel  of  Dickens  in  wliich  you  are  most  interested. 
8.  In  what  age  was  Thackeray's  greatest  historical  novel  laid? 
Q,  What  do  you  know  of  Thackeray  as  a  poet? 
lo.  In  a  one-hundred-word  composition  present  Tliackeray's  character. 

Suggested  Readings. — Tlie  same  that  has  been  said  of  Dickens's 
novels  may  he  said  i>i  Thackeray's.  To  the  uninitiated  probably  "  \'anity 
Fair  "  will  be  found  the  most  interesting.  Anthony  Trollope's  "Life  of 
Thackeray  "  in  the  English  Men  of  Letters  Series  is  interesting — one  novel- 
ist writing  of  another. 


^^-^t^^X^i^^A^^i^^ 


CHAPTER  XLII 

JOHN  RUSKIN    (1819-1900) 

"John  Ruskin,  boy  and  man,  has  had  a  terrible  power  of  winning 
hearts." — Collingwood. 

"  Xor  feared  to  follow,  in  the  offense 
Of  false  opinion,  his  own  sense 
Of  justice  unsubdued." 

— Robert,  Lord  Lytton. 

When  Robert  Browning  was  a  baby,  he  was  interrupted  in  a 
sermon  he  was  preaching  by  the  lamentations  of  a  small  sister  and 
said  sternly:  "  Pew-opener,  remove  that  child  I  "  John  Ruskin,  at 
the  age  of  three,  climbed  into  a  big  chair  and  discoursed  thus: 
"  People,  be  dood.  If  you  are  dood,  Dod  will  love  you.  If  you  are 
not  dood,  Dod  will  not  love  you.  People,  be  dood!  "  This  pre- 
cocious bit  of  preaching  was  a  natural  result  of  Ruskin's  ancestry 
and  environment,  one  may  think,  and  by  no  means  a  bad  epitome  of 
the  mature  philosophy  which  has  made  his  writings  what  they  are 
to-day — one  of  the  most  powerful  influences  in  our  social  life. 

He  was  bom  February  8,  1819,  in  the  same  year  with  Queen 
Victoria,  George  Eliot,  Charles  Kingsley,  Walt  Whitman,  and  James 
Russell  Lowell.  His  father  was  an  entirely  honest  wine  merchant, 
rich,  well-educated,  Scotch.  His  mother  was  an  uncompromising 
Scotch  Puritan.  She  devoted  little  John  to  the  church  and  herself 
to  John.  She  allowed  him  to  burn  his  fingers  on  the  tea-kettle; 
whipped  him  for  falling  downstairs;  gave  him  only  one  currant  for 
dessert;  and  permitted  no  toys.  A  third  important  influence  in  his 
early  life  was  Anne,  his  nurse;  who  was  never  quite  in  her  glory 
unless  somebody  was  sick;  who  might  be  relied  upon  to  give  the 
darkest  view  on  any  subject  before  proceeding  to  ameliorative  action 
on  it;  who  had  a  creditable  and  republican  aversion  to  doing  imme- 
diately or  in  set  terms  as  she  was  bid ;  who  served  the  Ruskins  from 
15  to  72;  and  who  never  did  any  human  being  an  injun,-.  except  by 
saving  200  pounds  for  her  relations,  in  consequence  of  which  some  of 
them,  after  her  funeral,  did  not  speak  to  the  rest  for  several  months. 

473 


t7t  KXC.LISII  LITERATURE 

In  this  household  little  John  speedily  taught  himself  to  read  by 
the  method,  then  unknown  but  since  universally  adopted,  of  getting 
by  heart  whole  words  and  sentences  instead  of  learning  isolated 
syllables  or  letters.  As  soon  as  possible  he  proceeded  to  peruse  Walter 
Scott's  novels  and  the  "  Iliad  "  in  Pope's  translation,  on  weekdays;  on 
Sunday,  he  tempered  this  with  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  and  "  The  Pil- 
grim's Progress."  He  had,  however,  still  better  teaching.  His  mother 
forced  him,  by  steady  daily  toil  to  learn  long  chapters  of  the  Bible  by 
heart,  as  well  as  to  read  it  every  syllable  through,  aloud,  hard  names 
and  all,  from  Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse,  about  once  a  year.  "  To  that 
discipline,"  he  wrote  in  "  Praeterita,"  "  I  owe  my  general  power  of 
taking  pains  and  the  best  part  of  my  taste  in  literature.  And  truly 
this  maternal  installation  of  my  mind  I  count  the  one  essential  part  of 
all  my  education."  In  this  fine  home,  however,  he  also  learned 
Peace,  Obedience,  and  Faith.  His  parents  never  quarrelled,  scolded 
ser\-ants,  did  anything  in  a  hurry,  or  failed  to  get  things  done  on  time. 
He  obeyed  his  father  and  mother  as  a  ship  obeys  her  helm.  Nothing 
was  ever  promised  to  him  that  was  not  given,  nothing  ever  threatened 
him  that  was  not  inflicted,  and  nothing  ever  told  him  that  was  not  true. 
This  training,  on  the  other  hand,  had  four  serious  defects.  He  had 
nothing  to  love.  He  had  nothing  to  endure.  He  was  taught  no 
precision  of  manners.  His  judgment  of  right  and  wrong  was  left 
undeveloped.  His  early  education,  in  other  words,  was  at  once 
too  formal  and  too  luxurious. 

For,  if  John's  mother  was  religious,  his  father  was  prosperous. 
He  was  able,  in  1823,  to  buy  the  lease  of  a  house  on  Heme  Hill,  a 
rustic  eminence  four  miles  south  of  the  heart  of  London.  This 
dwelling  was  one  of  a  block  of  four,  but  it  had  fine  trees  in  front,  a 
view  that  stretched  as  far  west  as  Windsor,  and  in  the  rear  a  garden 
of  seventy  yards  by  twenty,  where  grew  apples,  pears,  cherries,  mul- 
berries, gooseberries,  and  currants.  To  little  John  this  was  a  Paradise, 
except  that  all  the  fruits  were  forbidden  and  there  were  no  compan- 
ionable beasts.  There  he  lived  until  he  grew  famous  and  railways 
spoiled  his  temper  and  London  waxed  so  big  that  high  walls  were 
l)uilt  to  protect  the  inhabitants  against  the  excursionist,  who  now  has 
the  liberty  of  obtaining  what  notion  he  may  of  the  scenery  between 


JOHN  RUSKIN  475 

two  hot  palings,  with  one  bad  cigar  before  him,  another  behind, 
and  a  third  in  his  mouth.  The  elder  Ruskin's  business  was  chieily 
to  sell  the  costly  sherry  wine  which  his  partner,  Mr.  Domecq,  pro- 
duced in  Spain.  Their  idea  was  to  furnish  the  best  at  the  highest 
price.    Eighty  guineas  a  butt  was  their  usual  charge  and  they  pros- 


JOHN   RUSKIN 
1819 — 1900 


pered.  Mr.  Ruskin  never  spent  more  than  half  of  his  income. 
Business  to  him  was  a  pleasant  occupation  rather  than  a  source 
of  worry.  His  letters  to  customers  were  Spartan  in  their  brevity, 
consisting  as  they  did  of  assurances  that,  if  they  found  fault  with 


474 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


In  this  household  little  John  speedily  taught  himself  to  read  by 
the  method,  then  unknown  but  since  universally  adopted,  of  getting 
by  heart  whole  words  and  sentences  instead  of  learning  isolated 
syllables  or  letters.  As  soon  as  possible  he  proceeded  to  peruse  Walter 
Scott's  novels  and  the  "  Iliad  "  in  Pope's  translation,  on  weekdays;  on 
Sunday,  he  tempered  this  with  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  and  "  The  Pil- 
grim's Progress."  He  had,  however,  still  better  teaching.  His  mother 
forced  him,  by  steady  daily  toil  to  learn  long  chapters  of  the  Bible  by 
heart,  as  well  as  to  read  it  every  syllable  through,  aloud,  hard  names 
and  all,  from  Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse,  about  once  a  year.  "  To  that 
discipline,''  he  wrote  in  "  Praeterita,"  "  I  owe  my  general  power  of 
taking  pains  and  the  best  part  of  my  taste  in  literature.  And  truly 
this  maternal  installation  of  my  mind  I  count  the  one  essential  part  of 
all  my  education."  In  this  fine  home,  however,  he  also  learned 
Peace,  Obedience,  and  Faith.  His  parents  never  quarrelled,  scolded 
servants,  did  anything  in  a  hurry,  or  failed  to  get  things  done  on  time. 
He  obeyed  his  father  and  mother  as  a  ship  obeys  her  helm.  Nothing 
was  ever  promised  to  him  that  was  not  given,  nothing  ever  threatened 
him  that  was  not  inflicted,  and  nothing  ever  told  him  that  was  not  true. 
This  training,  on  the  other  hand,  had  four  serious  defects.  He  had 
nothing  to  love.  He  had  nothing  to  endure.  He  was  taught  no 
precision  of  manners.  His  judgment  of  right  and  wrong  was  left 
undeveloped.  His  early  education,  in  other  words,  was  at  once 
too  formal  and  too  luxurious. 

For,  if  John's  mother  was  religious,  his  father  was  prosperous. 
He  was  able,  in  1823,  to  buy  the  lease  of  a  house  on  Heme  Hill,  a 
rustic  eminence  four  miles  south  of  the  heart  of  London.  This 
dwelling  was  one  of  a  block  of  four,  but  it  had  fine  trees  in  front,  a 
view  that  stretched  as  far  west  as  Windsor,  and  in  the  rear  a  garden 
of  seventy  yards  by  twenty,  where  grew  apples,  pears,  cherries,  mul- 
berries, gooseberries,  and  currants.  To  little  John  this  was  a  Paradise, 
except  that  all  the  fruits  were  forbidden  and  there  were  no  compan- 
ionable beasts.  There  he  lived  until  he  grew  famous  and  railways 
spoiled  his  temper  and  London  waxed  so  big  that  high  walls  were 
built  to  protect  the  inhabitants  against  the  excursionist,  who  now  has 
the  lit)erty  of  obtaining  what  notion  he  may  of  the  scenery  between 


I 


o;  p^- 


ucaiinSpam/**^' 
nee,  E2!i!}-?in*» 


1?  as  •: 


JOHN  RUSKIN  477 

and  died  soon  after  of  fever;  that  his  disposition  was  extremely 
amiable  when  he  was  not  bothered;  that  he  could  not  learn  to  ride 
a  horse,  which  his  parents  took  for  a  sign  of  genius;  that  he  acquired 
the  habit  of  fixed  attention;  and  that  Mazzini  declared  that  he  had 
the  most  analytic  mind  in  Europe,  "  an  opinion  in  which,"  Ruskin 
modestly  said,  "  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  Europe,  I  am  entirely 
disposed  to  concur."  Then,  in  a  happy  moment,  a  friend  gave  him 
Rogers's"  Italy,"  with  illustrations  by  Turner.  The  latter  aroused 
his  enthusiasm  and  became  a  determining  factor  in  his  life.  Later, 
when  introduced  to  Rogers,  instead  of  showing  proper  admiration 
for  his  verse,  Ruskin  congratulated  him  on  the  beauty  of  Turner's 
pictures  and  found  the  subject  of  conversation  promptly  turned  to 
Africa.  So  he  began  to  draw  and  to  write  verses  not  much  worse 
than  Mr.  Rogers's  own.  And,  in  due  time,  being  introduced  to 
Mr.  Domecq's  four  daughters,  he  was  in  four  days  reduced  to  a  mere 
heap  of  white  ashes,  in  which  unhappy  state  he  remained  four  years, 
from  17  to  21,  as  wretched  as  a  stock-fish  in  an  aquarium.  Adele 
Clothilde,  whose  charms  were  responsible  for  this  calamity,  being 
Spanish  born,  Parisian  bred,  and  Catholic-hearted,  he  tried  to  enter- 
tain her  by  his  own  views  on  the  Spanish  Armada,  the  Battle  of  Water- 
loo, and  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  His  mother  was  as 
annoyed  at  all  this  as  if  one  of  her  chimneys  had  begun  to  smoke; 
Adele  laughed  at  him;  and  he  set  himself,  in  a  state  of  majestic 
imbecility,  to  write  a  tragedy  in  which  the  sorrows  of  his  soul  were  to 
be  enshrined  in  immortal  verse.  "  There  was  really  no  more  capacity 
nor  intelHgence  in  me,"  he  wrote  in  his  old  age,  "  than  in  a  just- 
fledged  owlet,  or  just  open-eyed  puppy,  disconsolate  at  the  existence 
of  the  moon." 

In  this  state,  somewhat  ameliorated  by  private  tutors,  he  was 
entered  1837  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  as  a  gentleman  commoner. 
Gentlemen  commoners  are  charged  high  fees  and  not  expected  to  do 
any  work  or  know  much,  and  Ruskin  was  so  entered  because  his 
father  was  afraid  he  could  not  pass  the  entrance  examinations  required 
of  ordinary  students.  His  companions,  mostly  noblemen's  sons, 
received  him  as  if  he  had  been  an  inoffensive  little  cur;  were  loud  in 
congratulation  when  he  floored  their  tutor;  cursed  him  with  fiery 


478  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  - 

disdain  when  he  was  guilty  of  the  impropriety  of  writing  an  essay 
with  any  meaninji;  in  it,  like  vulgar  students;  tried  to  interest  him  in 
horse-racing;  and  drank  his  wine  with  approval,  though  they  threw 
out  of  his  window  to  the  porter's  children  the  fruit  he  had  sent  for 
from  London  for  their  refreshment.  But  they  were  gentlemen  none 
the  less.  They  never  referred  disrespectfully  to  the  fact  that  his 
mother  had  taken  up  her  residence  at  Oxford  in  order  to  be  near  him. 
When  he  entered  Oxford,  Ruskin  as  a  matter  of  fact  was  already 
a  lover  of  art,  a  student  of  antiquity,  and  a  minute  observer  of  nature. 
He  was  also  a  successful  contributor  to  various  journals.  In  1839  he 
won  the  Xewdigate  prize  with  a  poem  on  "  Salsette  and  Elephanta." 
In  spite  of  the  example  of  his  iioble  companions,  he  studied  hard,  so 
hard,  in  fact,  that  in  1840  he  was  threatened  with  consumption  and 
sought  refuge  with  his  parents  in  Italy.  On  his  return  he  took  a  pass 
degree,  and  set  to  work  on  a  vindication  of  Turner,  whose  acquaintance 
he  had  just  made  and  whose  pictures  he  had  begun  to  buy  and 
treasure.  This  enterprise  gradually  expanded  into  five  huge  volumes, 
which  appeared  at  intervals  during  the  next  twenty  years  and  discuss 
the  whole  field  of  art.  The  first  volume  was  published  1843  under 
the  clumsy  and  contentious  title — "  Modem  Painters:  Their  Superi- 
ority in  the  Art  of  Landscape  Pa.inting  to  All  the  Ancient  Masters 
Proved  by  Examples  of  the  True,  the  Beautiful,  and  the  Intellectual, 
from  the  Works  of  Modern  Artists,  Especially  from  Those  of  J.  M.  \Y. 
Turner,  Esq.,  R.A."  Turner  was  embarrassed  at  the  greatness  thus 
thrust  upon  him  and  many  a  dauber  enraged  because  his  market  was 
spoiled.     As  Punch  put  it,  their  wail  amounted  to  this: 

"  I    paints    and    paints, 
Hears  no  complaints, 

.A.n(l  sells  before  I'm  dry, 
Till  savage  Ruskin 
Sticks  his  tusk  in. 

And  nobody  will  buy." 

But  judges  of  literature  perceived  that  a  new  master  of  English  prose 
had  appeared;  laymen  welcomed  the  book  because  it  furnished  them 
a  key  such  as  had  not  hitherto  existed  for  the  understanding  of 
pictures;  and  even  the  enraged  artists  studied  it  eagerly,  for  it  con- 
tained a  mass  of  material  the  value  of  which  they  had  to  recognize. 


JOHN  RUSKIN  479 

A  second  volume  was  published  1846.  In  the  interval  between  the 
two  Ruskin  had  discovered  the  great  Christian  art  of  mediaeval  Italy. 
He  had  also  perfected  his  style. 

His  next  important  work, ''  The  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,"  fol- 
lowed in  1849.  Alarmed  at  the  frivolity  of  the  modern  world  and 
at  its  machinery,  he  sought  in  this  book  to  show  that  architecture  is 
the  crowning  embodiment  of  the  virtues  that  make  life  excellent  and 
that  good  architecture  is  impossible  unless  workmen  are  guided  by 
the  lamps  of  sacrifice,  truth,  power,  beauty,  memory,  and  obedience, 
all  kindled  by  a  living  fire  from  heaven.  Perhaps  the  most  eloquent 
and  noticeable  passages  of  the  work  are  those  in  which  he  protested 
against  the  ruin  of  the  masterpieces  of  architecture  by  attempts  to 
restore  them. 

In  this  same  spirit,  he  wrote  during  the  years  immediately  follow- 
ing the  greatest  of  his  works,  "  The  Stones  of  Venice."  The  first  vol- 
ume  appeared  1851,  the  other  two  1853.  One  chapter,  the  sixth  of  the 
second  volume,  entitled  "  On  the  Nature  of  Gothic,"  is  the  central 
part  of  his  whole  teaching.  With  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Carlyle's 
"  Sartor  Resartus,"  it  calls  on  men  not  to  despair  but  to  labor  and  to 
hope.  The  spirit  of  the  whole  book  reminds  one  of  Revelations,  xxi, 
27,  "  And  I,  John,  saw  the  holy  city.  New  Jerusalem,  coming  down 
from  God,  out  of  Heaven,"  while  its  details  make  the  reader  think 
of  Byron's  stanza  beginning: 

"  I  stood  in  Venice  on  the  Bridge  of  Sighs, 
A  palace  and  a  prison  on  each  hand ; 
I  saw  from  out  the  wave  her  structures  rise 
As  from  the  stroke  of  an  enchanter's  wand." 

After  the  "  Stones  of  Venice  "  was  completed,  Ruskin  returned  to 
what  he  considered  his  main  work,  "Modern  Painters."  The  third  and 
fourth  volumes  appeared  1856.  In  them  he  showed  that  he  had  ar- 
rived at  the  conclusion  that  art  which  is  a  mere  record  of  facts  is  not 
art  at  all  and  that  no  real  art  is  possible  which  is  not  the  outcome  of 
life  lived  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  God.  The  last  volume,  which 
appeared  1860,  showed  that  he  was  weary  of  the  subject.  He  had 
become  the  dictator  of  taste.  His  teaching  had  already  produced 
a  revolution  in  domestic  architecture.     Turner  was  recognized  as  the 


ISO  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

greatest  landscapist.  Art-education  was  extended  to  the  masses. 
And  yet  Ruskin  was  not  satisfied. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  interest  had  shifted  from  art  to  ethics. 
The  times  were  out  of  joint  and  he  proceeded  to  try  to  set  them  right. 
A  violent  Tory  of  the  old  school  (Walter  Scott's  school,  that  is  to  say, 
and  Homer's)  he  had  a  most  sincere  love  of  kings  and  dislike  of 
everybody  who  had  attempted  to  disobey  them.  But  a  king,  he 
thought,  should  do  more  work  and  get  less  pay  than  his  followers, 
whereas  the  idea  of  a  king  in  modern  times  has  become  that  of  one 
who  governs  less  and  gets  more  than  anybody  else.  Up  to  1860, 
therefore,  he  was  a  writer  on  art;  after  that  he  devoted  his  whole 
energy  to  the  task  of  rescuing  the  lower  classes  from  the  intolerable 
wrongs  which,  in  his  judgment,  were  imposed  upon  them  by  a  false 
conception  of  political  economy.  His  first  enunciation  of  his  views 
alienated  his  own  father,  frightened  Thackeray  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  withdrew  a  series  of  articles  by  Ruskin  begun  in  "  The  Comhill 
Magazine,"  and  won  the  stanch  approval  of  Carlyle. 

The  ideas  which  created  this  tempest  amount  to  this:  Don't  talk 
about  your  work,  but  do  it.  We  want  more  faith  and  less  reasoning, 
less  strength  and  more  trust,  and  must  want  them  until  this  disgusting 
nineteenth  century  has  steamed  its  last.  Equal  energy  expended 
should  bring  equal  reward.  The  possession  of  capital  does  not  entitle 
a  man  to  unearned  increment.  The  so-called  law  of  supply  and 
demand  is  a  fallacy,  as  is  shown  by  the  superabundance  of  poetry  and 
the  lack  of  food.  Competition  as  a  principle  is  wrong.  To  get  rid  of 
it  labor  should  be  organized  into  guilds,  which  should  include  all  the 
masters  and  all  the  men.  Good  workmanship,  honest  production, 
fair  wages  for  the  men,  and  immunity  from  loss  for  the  masters  would 
thus  be  secured.  Retail  trade,  if  carried  out  by  the  salaried  officers 
of  the  guild,  would  be  neither  precarious  nor  degrading.  Workmen, 
holding  a  well-defined  and  dignified  position,  and  having  through  a 
trarle  council  some  control  over  their  work  and  wages,  would  have  no 
ground  for  discontent.  Masters  would  be  the  friends  and  not  the 
enemies  of  their  men,  their  superior  talents  would  be  recognized  and 
used,  and  they  would  enjoy  a  certain  pecuniary  advantage  but  not  that 
huge  disproportion  of  income  which  is  the  plague  of  modern  commerce 


JOHN  RUSKIN  481 

and  manufacture.  Incomes  should  be  confined  to  some  fixed  maxi- 
mum. Every  boy  and  girl  should  be  educated  but  not  learned  in  books 
except  in  cases  of  special  aptitude.  The  speedy  abolition  of  all 
abolishable  filth  is  the  first  process  of  education.  No  government  is 
efficient  unless  it  sees  that  everyone  has  the  necessaries  of  life  for  body 
and  soul.    Personal  property  should  be  allowed  but  interest  abolished. 

During  the  remaining  forty  years  of  his  life  Ruskin  taught  these 
doctrines  in  a  long  series  of  brilliant  lectures  and  essays.  Of  these 
the  chief  were  "  Unto  This  Last  "  1860,  "  Munera  Pulveris  "  1862-3, 
"  The  Crown  of  Wild  Olive  "  1864-5,  "  Sesame  and  Lilies  "  1865,  and 
"  Fors  Clavigera  "  1871-84.  But  he  did  more  than  write.  He  tried 
to  live  his  doctrines.  He  taught  night  school  in  a  workman's  college. 
He  founded  a  workman's  guild.  He  regenerated  the  London  tenements 
which  he  had  inherited  from  his  father.  He  organized  and  aided 
with  his  own  hands  a  brigade  to  clear  streets.  He  set  his  Oxford 
classes  at  work  mending  roads.  He  gave  away  the  property  which  he 
had  inherited  and  was  thus  compelled  in  his  old  age  to  subsist  on 
the  income  from  his  books.  Though  he  himself  despaired  of  success 
in  his  efforts  to  regenerate  mankind,  both  his  example  and  his  precepts 
have  had  an  enormous  influence.  The  heresy  of  1860  has  become 
the  commonplace  of  to-day,  and  many  of  his  ideas  are  already  written 
upon  the  statute  books  of  England  and  America. 

Nor  did  the  unpopularity  of  1860  long  continue.  Even  Oxford, 
stronghold  though  it  was  of  ancient  privilege,  in  1869  elected  him 
Slade  Professor  of  Art.  He  held  this  position  with  one  break  of  six 
years  until  1884;  founded  and  endowed  with  lavish  generosity  a  school 
of  drawing  there;  delivered  to  large  and  enthusiastic  audiences  sev- 
eral brilliant  courses  of  lectures,  notable  among  which  are  "  Aratra 
Pentelici  "  1870,  "  The  Eagle's  Nest  "  1872,  "  Ariadne  Florentina  " 
1872,  and  "  Love's  Meinie  "  1873;  and  drew  round  him  a  small  circle 
of  young  men  who  helped  in  later  years  to  carry  the  torch  he  had 
kindled  and  laid  in  their  hands.  Failing  health  and  the  endowment 
by  the  university  of  a  chair  of  vivisection  led  him  finally  to  sever  his 
connection  with  Oxford. 

His  father  had  died  1864,  his  mother  1871.    The  most  childlike, 
dutiful,  and  affectionate  of  sons,  he  had  never  had  until  the  latter  date 
31 


482  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

any  home  of  his  own,  living  with  them  at  Heme  Hill  until  1843  and 
afterward  in  a  larger  house  at  Denmark  Hill.  In  1872  he  bought  the 
little  estate  of  Brantwood  on  Coniston  Water  in  North  Lancashire, 
which  became  his  home  for  the  rest  of  his  life  and  which  was  made 
all  that  a  home  could  be  by  the  presence  and  care  of  his  cousin.  Miss 
Agnew.  Here,  between  1885  and  1889,  he  wrote  "  Praeterita,"  an 
informal  autobiography,  which  tells  the  story  of  his  life  down  to  1864; 
and  here,  on  January  20,  1900,  he  died.  He  was  buried  at  Coniston 
and  a  monument  erected  to  him  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

"  Modem  Painters  "  is  in  great  measure  already  obsolete,  but 
"  The  Seven  Lamps  "  and  the  "  Stones  of  Venice  "  will  probably  sur- 
vive. Of  his  later  writings  "  Unto  This  Last,"  "  The  Two  Paths," 
"  The  Crown  of  Wild  Olive,"  "  Sesame  and  Lilies,"  and  many  parts 
of  "  Fors  Clavigera  "  have  a  permanent  place  in  literature.  "  Praete- 
rita "  has  as  high  and  secure  a  rank  as  any  of  these. 

His  style,  like  all  great  literary  styles,  grew  from  the  imitation  of 
the  masters  whom  he  had  loved,  tempered  by  his  own  individuality, 
environment,  and  purposes.  He  himself  tells  us  that  it  was  his  cus- 
tom throughout  life  frankly  to  imitate  whatever  he  was  reading  with 
admiration.  His  chief  models  were  Hooker,  Byron,  Homer,  Bunyan, 
Walter  Scott,  and  the  Bible.  The  result,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
following  passages,  was  an  extraordinary  richness  and  charm: 

"  It  is  extremely  interesting  to  me  to  contrast  the  Englishman's 
silently  conscious  pride  in  what  he  is,  with  the  vexed  restlessness  of 
the  Frenchman  in  his  thirst  for  '  gloire '  to  be  gained  by  agonized 
efforts  to  become  something  he  is  not." 

"  During  these  continental  journeys  Johnson  was  the  one  author 
accessible  to  me.  No  other  writer  could  have  secured  me,  as  he  did, 
against  all  chance  of  being  misled  by  my  own  sanguine  and  meta- 
physical temperament.  He  taught  me  carefully  to  measure  life  and 
fiistrust  fortune;  and  he  secured  me,  by  his  adamantine  common- 
sense,  forever,  from  being  caught  in  the  cobwebs  of  German  meta- 
physics, or  sloughed  in  the  English  drainage  of  them." 

"  Setting  my  rooms  in  order  has,  through  life,  been  an  occasional 
complacent  recreation  to  me;  but  I  have  never  succeeded  in  keeping 
them  in  order  three  days  after  they  were  in  it." 


JOHN  RUSKIN  483 

"  If  you  do  a  foolish  thing  you  suffer  for  it  exactly  the  same 
whether  you  do  it  piously  or  not." 

"  There  is  no  other  such  piece  of  beauty  and  power  (he  is  talking 
of  the  Simplon  Pass),  full  of  human  interest  of  the  most  strangely 
varied  kind,  in  all  the  mountain  scenery  of  the  globe,  as  that  traverse, 
with  its  two  terminal  cities,  Geneva  and  Milan;  its  two  lovely  lakes 
of  approach,  Leman  and  Maggiore;  its  two  tremendous  valleys  of 
vestibule,  the  Valais  and  Val  d'Ossola;  and  its  own,  not  desolate  nor 
terrible,  but  wholly  beautiful,  upper  region  of  rose  and  snow." 

"  If  I  get  tiresome,  the  reader  must  skip;  I  write  for  the  moment 
to  please  myself,  and  not  him." 

"  We  slid  down  the  two  thousand  feet  to  the  source  of  the  Arveron 
in  some  seven  or  eight  minutes,  Richard  vouchsafing  his  entire 
approval  of  that  manner  of  progression  by  the  single  significant 
epithet, '  Pernicious.'  " 

"  George  indefatigably  carried  his  little  daguerrotype  box  up 
everywhere  and  took  the  first  image  of  the  Matterhorn  ever  drawn 
by  the  sun.  A  thing  to  be  proud  of  still,  though  he  is  a  justice  of 
peace,  somewhere  in  Australia." 

"  Men  of  perfect  genius  are  known  in  all  centuries  by  their  perfect 
respect  to  all  law  and  love  of  past  tradition;  their  work  in  the  world 
is  never  innovation,  but  new  creation;  without  disturbing  for  an 
instant  the  foundations  which  were  laid  of  old  time." 

"  Real  dancing  .  .  .  rarest  nowadays  of  all  the  gifts  of  culti- 
vated womankind.  It  used  to  be  said  of  a  Swiss  girl,  she  '  prays  well 
and  dances  well  ';  but  now  no  human  creature  can  pray  at  the  pace 
of  our  common  prayers  or  dance  at  the  pace  of  modem  waltz  or  polka 
music.  .  .  .  From  which  type  the  way  is  short  to  patten,  clog, 
golosh,  and  high-heeled  bottines,  which  have  distressed  alike  and  dis- 
graced all  feminine  motion  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  .  .  . 
Our  proud  maidenhood,  decorate  with  dead  robins,  transfixed  hum- 
ming-birds, and  hot-house  flowers  for  its  '  Wedding  March  by  Men- 
delssohn.' To  think  there  is  not  enough  love  or  praise  in  all  Europe 
and  America  to  invent  one  other  tune  for  the  poor  things  to  strut  to!  " 

"  Had  you  ever  read  ten  words  of  mine  with  understanding,  you 
would  have  known  that  I  care  no  more  for  Mr.  Disraeli  or  Mr. 


m 


482 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


any  home  of  his  own,  living  with  them  at  Heme  Hill  until  1843  and 
afterward  in  a  larger  house  at  Denmark  Hill.  In  1872  he  bought  the 
little  estate  of  Brantwood  on  Coniston  Water  in  North  Lancashire, 
which  became  his  home  for  the  rest  of  his  life  and  which  was  made 
all  that  a  home  could  be  by  the  presence  and  care  of  his  cousin,  Miss 
Agnew.  Here,  between  1885  and  1889,  he  wrote  "  Praeterita,"  an 
informal  autobiography,  which  tells  the  story  of  his  life  down  to  1864; 
and  here,  on  January  20,  1900,  he  died.  He  was  buried  at  Coniston 
and  a  monument  erected  to  him  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

"  Modem  Painters  "  is  in  great  measure  already  obsolete,  but 
"  The  Seven  Lamps  "  and  the  "  Stones  of  Venice  "  will  probably  sur- 
vive. Of  his  later  writings  "  Unto  This  Last,"  "  The  Two  Paths," 
"  The  Crown  of  Wild  Olive,"  "  Sesame  and  Lilies,"  and  many  parts 
of  "  Fors  Clavigera  "  have  a  permanent  place  in  literature.  "  Praete- 
rita "  has  as  high  and  secure  a  rank  as  any  of  these. 

His  style,  like  all  great  literary  styles,  grew  from  the  imitation  of 
the  masters  w^hom  he  had  loved,  tempered  by  his  own  individuality, 
environment,  and  purposes.  He  himself  tells  us  that  it  was  his  cus- 
tom throughout  life  frankly  to  imitate  whatever  he  was  reading  with 
admiration.  His  chief  models  were  Hooker,  Byron,  Homer,  Bunyan, 
Walter  Scott,  and  the  Bible.  The  result,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
following  passages,  was  an  extraordinary  richness  and  charm: 

"It  is  extremely  interesting  to  me  to  contrast  the  Englishman's 
silently  conscious  pride  in  what  he  is,  with  the  vexed  restlessness  of 
the  Frenchman  in  his  thirst  for  '  gloire '  to  be  gained  by  agonized 
efforts  to  become  something  he  is  not." 

"  During  these  continental  journeys  Johnson  was  the  one  author 
accessible  to  me.  No  other  writer  could  have  secured  me,  as  he  did, 
against  all  chance  of  being  misled  by  my  own  sanguine  and  meta- 
physical temperament.  He  taught  me  carefully  to  measure  life  and 
distrust  fortune;  and  he  secured  me,  by  his  adamantine  common- 
sense,  forever,  from  being  caught  in  the  cobwebs  of  German  meta- 
physics, or  sloughed  in  the  English  drainage  of  them." 

"  Setting  my  rooms  in  order  has,  through  life,  been  an  occasional 
complacent  recreation  to  me;  but  I  have  never  succeeded  in  keeping 
them  in  order  three  days  after  they  were  in  it." 


sithitst 


iteniW 


in  some  seven  in'  fi?' 
approval  of  tha:  M* 
epithet, 'Peniicxtt'" 

"  George  iiKJelaafli 
ever)ihere  and  wk  if 
by  tie  sun.  AttafU 
peace,  i-.r'.:r'r  it. te 

respect  ;u...:f  id  h 
is  never  inixnilioi.  bl 


:iisl,i!it  t-- 

vatedwon-.;-' 
and  dance>  v  ■ 
i)fourconiir,c 


Our  proud :;_ 
oiing-birds.  a: 

T 


'''ilOBI 


aud.fe:; 


CHAPTER  XLIII 
ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON    (1850-1894) 

"  This  wounded  soldier  did  not  merely  refrain  from  groans  ;  he  gave 
forth  instead  a  war  song  so  juvenile  and  inspiriting  that  thousands  of 
men  without  a  scratch  went  back  into  the  battle." — G.  K.  Chesterton. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  reminds  one  in  varied  ways  of  Pope, 
Carlyle,  Scott,  and  Lamb.  Like  Pope  and  Carlyle,  his  life  was  one 
long  disease.  Unlike  them  and  like  Scott,  he  made  it  heroic  by  rising 
above  his  sufferings;  somebody  indeed  has  said  that,  instead  of 
stoically  enduring  the  ill-health  to  which  he  was  condemned,  he  made 
of  his  career  one  long  and  joyous  song  of  victory,  wherein  mind 
triumphed  over  matter.  Like  Scott,  too,  he  wrote  fascinating 
romances,  and  like  Lamb  he  had  an  exquisitely  artful  style. 

He  was  born  November  13,  1850,  at  Edinburgh.  His  father  was 
a  noted  builder  of  lighthouses.  From  his  mother  he  inherited  a 
weakness  of  chest  and  a  susceptibility  to  cold  that  affected  his  whole 
life  and  would  have  ended  it  in  infancy  had  it  not  been  for  the  devoted 
care  of  his  nurse,  Alison  Cunningham.  Cummie,  as  he  called  her, 
also  watched  over  his  spiritual  welfare,  instilling  into  his  youthful 
mind  a  proper  fear  of  hell  and  a  proper  hatred  of  cards,  novels,  and 
playhouses,  though  her  protege  was  wont  in  later  years  to  declare  that 
her  grand  dramatic  way  of  reciting  the  hymns  gave  him  his  passion 
for  the  drama.  In  1856  he  began  his  literary  career  by  dictating 
to  his  mother  on  five  successive  Sunday  evenings  a  history  of  Moses, 
for  which  he  received  as  reward  a  Bible  picture  book  and  a  life-long 
desire  to  be  an  author.  The  first  book  that  he  read  was  "  The  Arabian 
Nights."  His  schooling  did  not  begin  until  1859  and  then,  on  account 
of  his  susceptibility  to  cold,  was  irregular.  Among  his  masters  was 
D'Arcy  Thompson,  author  of  "  The  Day  Dreams  of  a  Schoolmaster." 
Another  of  his  teachers  said  he  was  without  exception  the  most  delight- 
ful of  boys,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  remained  profoundly  ignorant 
of  spelling  and  grammar.     He  rode  a  pony  some  in  these  years  and 

485 


isr,  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

played  a  little  football.  His  mother  introduced  him  to  Shakespeare 
by  reading  "  Macbeth  "  during  a  storm,  an  event  of  which  he  wrote: 
"  I  cannot  say  I  thought  the  experience  agreeable;  I  far  preferred 
the  ditch-water  stories  that  a  child  could  dip  and  skip  and  doze  over, 
stealing  at  times  material  for  play;  it  was  something  new  and  shock- 


ROBERT     LOUIS  STEVENSON 
1850 — 1894 


mg  to  be  thus  ravished  by  a  giant,  and  I  shrank  under  the  brutal 
p-asp."  At  fourteen  he  wrote  a  comic  opera  called  "  The  Baneful 
Potato/'  m  which  Dig-him-up-o  was  the  gardener  and  Set-him-out-o 
the  policeman.    About  the  same  time  he  composed  several  tales  of 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  487 

adventure.     In  one  of  these  the  hero  is  caught  in  a  boiler  under  which 
a  fire  is  lit,  and  the  others  are  equally  exciting. 

In  1867  it  was  decided  that  Louis,  like  his  father,  was  to  be  an 
engineer,  and  the  next  three  years  and  a  half  were  devoted  to  prepara- 
tion for  this  career.  Accordingly  he  was  sent  to  Edinburgh  Uni- 
versity and  was  exposed  to  but  did  not  take  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics, 
physics,  and  civil  engineering.  About  all  he  remembered  of  these 
studies  was  that  the  spinning  of  a  top  is  a  case  of  kinetic  stability, 
that  emphyteusis  is  not  a  disease,  and  that  stillicide  is  not  a  crime. 
In  fact,  as  far  as  the  university  was  concerned,  he  acted  upon  an 
extensive  and  highly  rational  system  of  truantry,  and  no  one  ever  had 
more  certificates  of  attendance  for  less  education.  His  real  education 
consisted  of  those  experiences  outside  of  the  classroom  which  fill 
minds  like  his  with  images  and  emotions.  He  observed  men.  He 
made  a  descent  in  a  diving  suit.  He  took  the  same  voyage  which  his 
grandfather  had  taken  in  1815  with  Sir  Walter  Scott.  He  caught 
three  dozen  trout  in  one  day  and  forthwith  forswore  fishing.  He 
dressed  to  please  himself,  which  did  not  please  his  father.  He  joined 
"  The  Speculative  Society,"  a  club  where  papers  were  read  and  motions 
debated.  He  had  religious  doubts  and  financial  difficulties,  his  parents 
allowing  him  up  to  the  age  of  twenty-three  only  one  pound  a  month. 
Finally,  in  1871,  he  mustered  up  courage  to  tell  his  father  that  he 
preferred  literature  to  engineering  and  in  consequence  was  set  to 
studying  law,  that  he  might  have  the  means  of  earning  bread  ^nd 
butter  in  case  his  pen  failed.  He  was  gradually  changed  from  a  boy 
to  a  man  by  natural  growth,  the  study  of  Walt  Whitman,  and  the 
coming  of  friends.  Among  these  were  Sir  Walter  Simpson,  son  of 
the  physician  who  gave  chloroform  to  the  world;  Fleemin  Jenkin,  one 
of  Louis's  professors,  whose  wife  says  that  the  boy  talked  as  Charles 
Lamb  wrote;  and  Sidney  Colvin.  Indeed,  about  this  time  Stevenson 
wrote  down  as  the  chief  desires  of  his  heart:  "  First,  good  health; 
secondly,  a  small  competence;  and,  thirdly,  O  Du  Lieber  Gott! 
friends."  Of  the  last  he  secured  all  that  his  heart  could  wish;  of  the 
second  he  finally  had  enough;  the  first  he  never  enjoyed. 

During  all  of  this  period  he  tried  unsuccessfully  to  get  editors  to 
print  what  he  wrote.     With  three  of  his  friends  he  also  started 


488  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

•  The  Edinburgh  University  Magazine."  Its  chief  merit  was  a 
yellow  cover.  It  ran  four  months  in  undisturbed  obscurity  and  died 
without  a  gasp.  Louis's  father  paid  the  bill  and  Louis  betook  himself 
again  to  the  task  of  learning  how  to  write.  His  method,  which  is 
outlined  in  "  A  College  Magazine,"  is  worthy  of  the  attention  of  all 
students.  It  is  based  on  his  discovery  of  the  fact  that  all  of  the 
great  stylists  have  learned  to  write  by  imitating  their  predecessors. 
In  his  case  the  first  fruits  of  the  method  were  two  immortal  volumes 
of  essays,  "  Memories  and  Portraits  "  and  "  Virginibus  Puerisque." 
Among  the  former  was  "  Ordered  South/'  in  which,  with  invincible 
courage,  he  records  how,  in  1873,  being  threatened  with  phthisis,  he 
was  compelled  by  his  physicians  to  spend  the  winter  on  the  Riviera. 
There,  feeling  like  a  man  of  eighty,  he  lay  in  the  sun,  read  "  Wood- 
stock," and  visited  with  Sidney  Colvin  and  Andrew  Lang,  but  finally 
recovered,  returned  to  Edinburgh,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Scottish 
bar.  His  monthly  allowance  being  now  increased  to  seven  pounds, 
he  began  to  enjoy  life.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  Leslie  Stephen 
and  W.  E.  Henley.  Being  the  most  clubable  of  men,  he  joined  clubs. 
And,  above  all,  he  travelled,  especially  in  France,  where  he  lived  much 
at  Barbizon,  the  home  of  Millet  and  the  scene  of  the  Angelus.  By 
1876  he  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  magazines,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year  he  went  by  canoe  from  Antwerp  to  Brussels  and  thence 
after  a  train  journey  by  the  Sambre  and  Oise  to  Pontoise  near  the 
Seine,  all  of  which  tragic  territory,  even  then  full  of  troops,  is  exquis- 
itely described  in  his  first  book,  "  An  Inland  Voyage,"  which  was 
published  in  the  May  of  1878.  This  was  followed  in  June  of  the 
following  year  by  "  Travels  with  a  Donkey  in  the  Cevennes."  He 
also  began  to  write  fiction.  "  A  Lodging  for  the  Night,"  "  The  Sire 
de  Maletroit's  Door,"  and  the  "  New  Arabian  Nights  "  belong  to 
this  period. 

On  his  return  to  Barbizon  from  the  inland  voyage  he  met  a  lady 
from  California  named  Mrs.  Osbourne  and  straightway  fell  in  love. 
•After  her  departure  for  San  Francisco  in  1878,  he  found  his  peace 
of  mind  gone,  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  a  slantindicular  cabin,  travelled 
from  New  York  to  California  in  an  immigrant  train,  and  lived  there 
for  some  months,  estranged  from  his  family,  in  dire  poverty,  and  on 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  489 

the  verge  of  a  galloping  consumption.  From  this  situation  he  was 
rescued  by  his  father,  who  gave  him  a  fixed  income  of  250  pounds  a 
year,  and  by  Mrs.  Osbourne,  to  whom  he  was  married  May  19,  1880. 
It  was  a  real  love  match.  Only  one  other  poem  in  English,  Words- 
worth's "  She  was  a  phantom  of  delight  "  belongs  in  the  same  class 
with  the  lines  in  which  .Stevenson  describes  her: 

"  Trusty,  dusky,  vivid,  true, 
With  eyes  of  gold  and  bramble-dev/, 

Steel   true   and   blade-straight, 
The  great  artificer 

Made  my  mate. 

"Honour,  anger,  valour,  fire; 
A  love  that  life  could  never  tire, 

Death  quench,  or  evil  stir, 
The  mighty  master 

Gave  to  her. 

"  Teacher,  tender,   comrade,   wife, 
A   fellow-farer  true  through   life. 

Heart-whole  and  soul-free 
The   august   father 

Gave  to  me." 

How  they  spent  their  honeymoon  in  a  ruined  mining  camp  fifty  miles 
north  of  San  Francisco  is  told  once  for  all  in  "  The  Silverado  Squat- 
ters." In  August  the  prodigals  were  back  in  Scotland,  where  they 
were  received  with  open  arms. 

During  the  next  two  years,  Stevenson's  health  compelled  him  to 
live  mostly  at  Davos  in  Switzerland  and  in  the  Scottish  highlands. 
He  read  Horace,  skated,  tobogganed,  played  war  with  his  stepson, 
Lloyd  Osbourne,  in  the  attic,  and  for  the  latter's  pleasure  wrote 
"  Treasure  Island."  It  was  first  printed  in  a  children's  magazine, 
where  it  attracted  no  particular  attention,  but  when  it  appeared  1882 
in  book  form  it  won  instant  recognition.  Mr.  Gladstone  spent  a  day 
hunting  over  London  for  a  second-hand  copy.  One  noted  editor  pro- 
nounced it  the  best  book  since  "  Robinson  Crusoe."  It  gave  Andrew 
Lang  several  hours  of  such  bliss  that  he  wrote:  "  This  is  the  kind 
of  stuff  a  fellow  wants.  I  don't  know,  except  '  Tom  Sawyer  '  and 
'  The  Odyssey,  '  that  I  ever  liked  any  romance  so  well."  Indeed,  it 
is  now  justly  recognized  as  being  the  best  pirate  story  in  existence. 
However,  nervous  boys  and  girls  should  not  read  it,  as  it  is  sure  to 
make  them  see  things  at  night. 


m  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

The  success  of  "  Treasure  Island  "  was  supplemented  by  the 
appearance  in  "  The  Century  Magazine  "  of  "  The  Silverado  Squat- 
ters "  which  introduced  Stevenson  to  America  and  began  a  connection 
that  filled  his  pocket-book  with  good  American  dollars.  This  pros- 
perity, however,  was  partly  spoiled  by  illness;  his  doctor,  in  1884, 
said:  "  Keep  him  alive  until  he  is  forty,  and  then  he  may  live  until 
he  is  ninety."  Undisturbed  tranquillity  was  prescribed  to  him  for 
at  least  two  years.  He  sought  it  in  a  cottage  at  Bournemouth,  Eng- 
land, where  he  lived,  or  rather  existed,  from  1884  to  1887.  Here,  in 
spite  of  sufferings,  he  completed  "  A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses  "  and 
'*  Prince  Otto,"  and  here  he  wrote  "  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde  "  and 
"  Kidnapped."  The  first  of  these  books  is  unsurpassed  among  chil- 
dren's lyrics;  "  Prince  Otto  "  won  the  warm  encomiums  of  George 
Meredith;  "  The  Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,"  awful 
study  that  it  is  in  the  abysmal  depths  of  personality,  is  equally  effec- 
tive as  a  moral  lesson  and  as  a  burning  and  intense  piece  of  art;  and 
"  Kidnapped,"  though  designed  as  a  boy's  book,  was  at  once  hailed 
as  unequalled  among  romances  since  Scott's  day. 

Stevenson's  father  died  in  1887,  and,  thus  being  free  to  seek  health 
anywhere,  he  left  Europe  for  good,  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  found 
a  warm  welcome  in  New  York,  together  with  offers  of  2000  pounds  for 
fifty-two  weekly  articles  and  1600  pounds  for  the  serial  rights  of  his 
next  story.  He  spent  the  ensuing  winter  at  Saranac  Lake  in  the 
.•\dirondacks,  writing  some  in  collaboration  with  Lloyd  Osbourne. 
In  the  spring,  at  New  York,  he  met  Mark  Twain,  and,  Hke  Kipling, 
found  him  delightful.  Then,  in  June,  he  went  to  San  Francisco 
and  chartered  the  Casco,  a  fore-and-aft  schooner,  ninety-five  feet 
long,  and  of  seventy  tons  burden.  In  her  with  his  household  he 
sailed  out  of  the  Golden  Gate  and  America,  like  Europe,  saw  him 
no  more. 

During  the  next  three  years  (1888-1891)  he  wandered  up  and 
down  the  Pacific,  visiting  almost  every  important  group  of  islands, 
but  spending  the  larger  part  of  his  time  in  Hawaii,  the  Gilberts, 
Tahiti,  and  Samoa,  finally  settling  in  the  last.  In  the  warm  seas 
he  found  some  measure  of  health,  indulged  to  the  full  his  inherited 
love  for  open  air  and  water,  made  brothers  with  the  natives,  and 


EGBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  491 

stored  his  mind  with  images  such  as  no  great  artist  had  previously- 
transferred  to  the  printed  page.  In  May,  1889,  he  finished  in  Hawaii 
"  The  Master  of  Ballantrae,"  which  appeared  serially  in  "  Scribner's 
Magazine,"  and  was  at  once  recognized  as  the  sternest  and  loftiest  note 
of  tragedy  he  had  yet  struck.  Even  Honolulu,  however,  was  too  cold 
for  him,  and  in  June  he  again  set  sail,  cruising  for  two  years  more 
in  the  central  Pacific  among  Polynesians  and  Micronesians,  high 
islands  and  low  islands.  As  he  cruised,  he  and  Lloyd  Osbourne  wrote 
"  The  Wreckers,"  which  is  as  full  of  thrills  as  a  dime  novel  and  at 
the  same  time  a  masterpiece  of  English  and  of  art.  Finally,  in  1891, 
he  bought  in  Samoa  300  acres  in  the  bush  three  miles  behind  and 
600  feet  above  the  town  of  Apia. 

Apia  is  located  on  the  island  of  Upolu,  which  is  45  miles  long  and 
eleven  wide.  The  interior  is  densely  wooded  and  a  range  of  hills  runs 
from  east  to  west.  Stevenson's  house  and  clearing  lay  between  two 
streams.  On  the  west  Vaea  Mountain  rose  1300  feet  above  the  sea. 
On  the  east  the  ground  fell  away  rapidly  into  a  deep  valley.  From 
one  of  the  streams  and  its  four  tributaries  Stevenson  gave  to  his 
domain  its  Samoan  name  of  Vailima,  or  Five  Waters.  Here  the  tem- 
perature never  falls  below  62  degrees  Fahrenheit  and  never  rises 
above  95  degrees  in  the  shade.  Malaria,  tropical  fevers,  and  mos- 
quitoes are  unknown.  At  first  only  a  rugged  path  led  to  Vailima,  but 
later,  as  a  mark  of  gratitude  to  its  owner,  the  natives  built  to  his  door 
a  roadway,  the  Ala  Loto  Alofa,  the  Road  of  the  Loving  Heart.  In 
this  island  paradise,  Stevenson  dwelt  for  three  years,  living  a  strenuous 
out-of-door  life  and  writing  his  latest  and  in  some  respects  his  best 
works—"  The  Island  Nights'  Entertainments,"  "  The  Ebb  Tide,"  "  St. 
Ives,"  "  Catriona,"  and  "  Weir  of  Hermiston  ";  and  here,  on  Decem- 
ber 3,  1894,  he  died  suddenly  and  almost  painlessly. 

He  was  buried  on  the  summit  of  Vaea,  to  which  the  natives  who 
loved  him  so  well  hewed  a  rugged  path  and  bore  his  body.  Upon 
one  side  of  the  tomb  which  was  later  erected  above  his  grave  is  a 
bronze  plate  bearing  in  Samoan  the  words,  "  The  Tomb  of  Tusitala," 
and  a  verse  from  the  Samoan  Bible,  with  a  thistle  and  a  hibiscus  flower. 
On  the  other  side,  in  English,  Stevenson's  own  "  Requiem,"  which 
he  wrote  in  San  Francisco  in  1880,  appears  as  follows: 


YM  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Robert  Louis 
J830  Stevenson  i8g4 

Under  the  wide  and  starry  sky, 
Dig  my  grave  and  lot  me  lie. 
Glad  did  I  live  and  gladly  die, 
And  I  laid  me  down  with  a  will. 

This  be  the  verse  you  grave  for  me : 
Here  he  lies  where  he  longed  to  be; 
Home  is  the  sailor,  home  from  the  sea, 
And  the  hunter  home  from  the  hill. 

The  chiefs  tabooed  the  use  of  firearms  on  the  mountain  that  the  birds 
might  live  there  undisturbed  and  sing  around  his  grave. 

Evidence  is  abundant  that  Stevenson  laid  a  spell  on  most  men 
whom  he  met.  His  perfect  honesty,  his  incurable  optimism,  and  his 
hatred  of  sham  may  account  for  this.  He  thought  the  life  of  cities 
miserable,  conventional  people  and  amusements  bored  him,  and  in  his 
earlier  days  at  least  he  had  an  invincible  dislike  for  the  acquisition 
of  property.  He  was  quite  without  fear.  Edmund  Gosse  was  so 
dazzled  with  him  that  he  wrote:  "  Was  ever  such  a  gracious  creature 
born?  "  His  intense  and  rare  spirit  was  so  full  of  schemes  that  he 
was  never  bored.  The  dream  of  his  life  was  to  be  the  leader  of  a  great 
horde  of  irregular  cavalry.  Above  everything  else  he  hated  cruelty. 
He  always  liked  the  people  he  was  with.  He  seems,  in  short,  to  have 
united  in  himself  the  charm  of  a  perpetual  breeze  blowing  off  the 
shores  of  youth,  an  almost  feminine  fineness  of  feeling,  and  a  manly 
courage  as  heroic  as  that  which  is  required  to  lead  a  forlorn  hope. 
He  hated  sham.  "  Nothing,"  he  said,  "  is  so  deadly  as  respectability." 
He  could  labor  terribly.  Some  of  his  books  were  rewritten  as  many 
as  eight  times  before  he  permitted  himself  to  let  them  see  the  light. 
.\11  of  this  and  more  was  seen  by  W.  E.  Henley,  when,  in  1888,  he 
wrote  the  following  sonnet,  in  which  is  embodied  perhaps  the  most 
acute  analysis  which  anyone  has  yet  made  of  Stevenson's  character: 

"Thin-legged,    thin-chested,    slight    unspeakably, 
Neat-footed  and  weak-fingered;  in  his  face — 
Lean,  largc-boncd,  curved  of  beak,  and  touched  with  race, 
I'.nld-lipped,  rich-tinted,  mutable  as  the  sea. 
The  brown  eyes  radiant  with  vivacity — 
There  shines  a  brilliant  and  romantic  grace, 


I 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  493 

A  spirit  intense  and  rare,  with  trace  on  trace 
Of   passion,   impudence,   and   energy-. 
Valiant  in  velvet,  light  in  ragged  luck, 
Most  vain,   most  generous,  sternly  critical, 
Buffoon  and  poet,  lover  and  sensualist ; 
A  deal  of  Ariel,  just  a  streak  of  Puck, 
Much  Antony,  of  Hamlet  most  of  all, 
And  something  of  the  Shorter  Catechist.' 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Give  an  account  of  Stevenson's  life. 

2.  What  other  English  authors  have  l)een  liurdened  with  unsound  hodies? 

3.  In  a  two-hundred-word  essay  write  your  frank  estimate  of  "  Treasure 

Island  "  or  "  Kidnapped,"  and  compare  it  with  any  so-called  "  boy's 
book  "  you  have  recently  read. 

4.  What  is  the  subject  of  "The  Silverado  Squatters"? 

5.  Where  is  Apia? 

6.  Recount  Stevenson's  relations  with  America. 

7.  What   effect   had   Stevenson   upon   the   men   with   whom  he    came    in 

contact? 

8.  What  lessons  do  we  draw  from  his  life? 

9.  What  marks  "Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde"  as  different  from  the  cheap 

detective  story  ? 
10.  In  what  different  forms  of  literature  did  Stevenson  excel? 

Suggested  Readings. — Of  his  stories  "  Treasure  Island  "  and  "  St. 
Ives,"  of  his  essays  "  Virginibus  Puerisque  "  should  be  read.  A  life  by 
David  Balfour  is  full  of  interest,  as  are  all  Stevenson's  letters. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

WOMAN  WRITERS 

"  The  woman's  cause  is  man's  :  they  rise  or  sink 
Togetlier,  dwarf'd  or  godlike,  bond  or  free." 

— Teyinyson. 

In  the  first  volume  of  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia  of  English  Lit- 
erature, which  covers  the  period  that  ends  1700,  the  only  woman 
writers  mentioned  are  Queen  Elizabeth,  Lady  Elizabeth  Carey,  Lady 
Fanshawe,  Lucy  Hutchinson,  Margaret  Duchess  of  Newcastle,  and 
Mrs.  Katherine  Thilips.  The  serond  volume,  which  brings  the  story 
down,  roughly  speaking,  to  the  year  1800,  contains  notices  of  no  less 
than  54  woman  writers,  while  in  the  third  and  last  there  are  97.  The 
following  table  will  show  the  facts  a  little  more  clearly: 

Total  Wom.an  -^ 

Centuries  Writers  Writers  i'ERCENTAGE 

XIX    697  97  -139 

XVIII     487  54  .114 

Earlier    485  6  .001 

The  sudden  jump  between  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  cen- 
turies was  unquestionably  due  to  a  broader  view  of  woman's  place, 
a  view  which  was,  perhaps,  modified  by  the  influence  of  France,  by 
the  Revolution  of  1688,  and  by  the  writings  of  Addison  and  Steele. 
The  works  of  many  of  these  ladies,  like  those  of  many  gentlemen,  of 
course  remind  one  of  Dr.  Johnson's  remark:  "  Sir,  a  woman  preaching 
is  like  a  dog  walking  on  his  hind  legs.  It  is  not  done  well,  but  you 
are  surprised  to  see  it  done  at  all."  Some  of  them,  however,  have 
produced  work  which  renders  this  saying  obsolete.  Among  these  the 
most  eminent  names  are  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  in  poetry, 
and  in  fiction  Maria  Edgeworth,  Jane  Austen,  and  George  Eliot.  To 
give  a  brief  account  of  these  and  the  other  women  writers  of  England 
is  the  purpose  of  this  and  the  following  chapters. 

Queen  Elizabeth  (1533-1603)  could  speak  Latin,  Greek,  French, 
and  Italian.  She  translated  "  Boethius  "  and  "  Sallust."  Her  Eng- 
lish style  both  in  prose  and  verse  is  by  turns  terrible,  insinuating,  cold, 
491 


WOMAN  WRITERS  495 

stately,  playful,  direct,  and  oracular,  but  always  memorable.  She 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  indifferent  to  Shakespeare  and  Spenser, 
and  in  her  last  illness  told  Sir  John  Harrington,  her  godson,  that, 
when  he  felt  time  creeping  at  his  gate,  these  fooleries  would  please  him 
less. — Lady  Elizabeth  Carey  published  1613  a  long-winded  poem 
called  "  The  Tragedie  of  Marian  the  Faire  Queene  of  Jewry." — Lady 
Fanshawe  (born  Anne  Harrison  1625-1680)  wrote  excellent  memoirs 
of  her  own  life,  which  were  published  1829. — Mrs.  Lucy  Hutchinson 
(1620-?)  also  wrote  memoirs,  not  of  her  own,  but  of  her  husband's 
life;  they  contain  good  pictures  of  a  Puritan  gentleman  and  his  home 
and  have  been  reprinted  frequently  since  their  first  publication  1806. 
She  was  also  author  of  some  theological  essays  and  translations  of 
"  Virgil  "  and  "  Lucretius." — Margaret,  Duchess  of  Newcastle  (1624- 
1674),  was  picturesque  and  proud  as  a  woman  and  voluminous  and 
unreadable  as  an  author.  Her  writings  include  philosophical  essays, 
poems,  and  plays — all  equally  bad.  Her  life  of  her  husband,  however, 
CharlesLamb  considered  a  jewel  for  which  no  casket  was  rich  enough. — 
Mrs.  Katherine  Philips  (1631-1664)  was  honored  by  the  praises  of 
Cowley,  Dryden,  and  Jeremy  Taylor;  and  was  known  in  her  own  day 
as  the  matchless  Orinda,  though  one  is  led  from  an  inspection  of  her 
poetry  to  suspect  that  the  real  cause  of  her  admirers'  enthusiasm  must 
have  been  her  charm  as  a  woman.  Like  Queen  Mary  and  many 
another  fair  lady  in  the  ante-vaccination  days,  she  died  of  smallpox. 

Mrs.  Aphra  Behn  (1640-1689)  as  a  writer  was  much  more  skill- 
ful than  any  previous  authoress.  She  composed  novels,  plays,  and 
poems  that  are  about  as  good  artistically  and  about  as  bad  morally 
as  the  average  of  her  time.  Her  best  book  is  a  novel  called  "  Oroo- 
noko,"  the  hero  of  which  is  a  slave,  and  thus  she  has  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  champion  of  the  slave  on  record  in  the  history  of 
fiction.  She  is  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Up  to  1735  her  works 
had  passed  through  eight  editions. 

Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  (1689-1762)  by  her  wit  and 
beauty  so  won  Pope's  admiration  that  he  wrote  of  her: 

"  In  beauty  and  wit  no  mortal  as  yet 
To  question  your  empire  has  dared, 
But  men  of  discerning  have  thought  that  in  learning 
To  yield  to  a  lady  was  hard. 


496  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

But  if  the  first  Eve  hard  doom  did  receive 
When  oidv  one  apple  had  she. 

What  a  punishment  new  shall  be  found  ouUor  you. 
Who  tasting  have  robbed  the  whole  tree ! 

Later  thev  quarrelled;  he  wrote  scurrilous  verses  about  her;  and 
she  cilled  him  the  wicked  asp  of  Twickenham.  Her  fame,  aside  from 
these  episodes,  rests  on  her  letters  and  the  fact  that  she  brought  mocu- 
lation    the  father  of  vaccination,  from  Turkey.     Her  letters,  first 


FANNY  BURNEY   (MADAME  D'ARBLAY) 

1752 — 1840 

From  the  engraving  by  C.  Turner  after  the  portrait  by  E.  W.  Burney.  a  relative 

printefl  1763,  have  ever  since  been  rated  as  classics.     They  compare 
not  unfavorably  with  those  of  Cowper  and  Lamb. 

AnneLetitia  Barbauld  (1743-1825)  was  a  voluminous  and  popular 
poet,  her  first  volume  of  verse  1773  passing  through  four  editions  in 
one  year.  Wordsworth,  Rogers,  and  Madams  D'Arblay  greatly 
admired  the  following,  which  is  perhaps  the  best  stanza  she  ever  wrote: 


WOMAN  WRITERS  497 

"Life!  we've  been  long  together, 
Tlirough  pleasant  and  through  cloudy  weather; 
'Tis  hard  to  part  when  friends  are  dear; 
Perhaps  'twill  cost  a  sigh,  a  tear. 
Then  steal  away,  give  little  warning, 

Choose   thine   own   time ; 

Say  not  Good-Night,  but  in  some  brighter  clime 
Bid  me  Good-Morning." 

Fanny  Burney  (1752-1840)  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Charles 
Bumey,  author  of  "  A  History  of  Music  "  and  a  friend  of  David  Gar- 
rick.  In  1778  she  published  a  novel  called  "  Evelina,"  or  "  A  Young 
Lady's  Entrance  into  the  World,"  which  was  so  good  and  so  successful 
that  she  was  rewarded  by  an  introduction  to  Dr.  Johnson.  It  was 
followed  1782  by  "Cecilia"  or  "Memoirs  of  an  Heiress,"  which 
brought  on  her  the  misfortune  of  an  appointment  as  second  keeper  of 
the  robes  to  Queen  Charlotte,  a  position  which  carried  \\ith  it  200 
pounds  a  year,  a  footman,  a  carriage,  a  room  in  the  palace,  and  the 
privilege  of  waiting  on  her  majesty  from  six  in  the  morning  until  mid- 
night. In  1791  she  escaped  from  this  gilded  slaver}^;  in  1793  mar- 
ried General  D'Arblay,  a  French  exile;  in  1795  produced  a  tragedy, 
"  Edwin  and  Elgitha,"  which  contains  three  bishops  and  has  the 
distinction  of  being  the  most  amusing  of  her  works;  in  1796  published 
another  good  novel,  "  Camilla";  and  in  1814  produced  a  bad  one 
called  "  The  Wanderer."  Her  "  Diary  and  Letters,"  published 
1842-1846  in  seven  volumes,  form  the  theme  of  one  of  Macaulay's 
finest  essays. 

Maria  Edgeworth  (1767-1849)  was  the  author  of  "  Castle  Rack- 
rent,"  1800;  "  The  Absentee,"  1812,  and  "  Ormond,"  1817.  Of  these 
three  novels  Sir  Walter  Scott  said:  "  They  have  gone  so  far  to  make 
the  English  familiar  with  the  character  of  their  gay  and  kind-hearted 
neighbors  of  Ireland  that  she  may  be  truly  said  to  have  done  more 
toward  completing  the  Union  perhaps  than  all  the  legislative  enact- 
ments." He  wrote  also  in  high  terms  of  her  humor,  tenderness,  and 
taste.  The  great  Russian  novelist  Turgenief  says  that  her  pictures 
of  Irish  squires  and  squireens  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  giving  a 
literary  form  to  his  impressions  of  the  parallel  classes  in  his  own 
equally  distressful  country.    Her  children's  stories  are  also  capital. 

Anna  Marie  Porter  (1780-1832)  wrote  about  fifty  novels,  all 
32 


498 


EXGLISH  LITERATURE 


equally  popular  in  her  day  and  equally  unread  in  ours;  her  sister,  Jane 
Porter  ( 1776  1850).  produced  two  romances,  "Thaddeus  of  Warsaw" 
and  "Scottish  Chiefs,"  which  are  still  read,  though  they  do  not  deserve 
to  be.  The  former  delighted  Kosciuszko  and  the  latter  won  the  honor 
of  being  proscribed  by  Napoleon. 

.\nn  Taylor  (1782-1866)  and  her  sister  Jane  (1783-1824)  wrote 
many  famous  hymns  and  children's  verses.     Of  the  latter  the  most 


MARIA  EDGEWORTH 
1767 — 1849 
From  a  drawing  by  Joseph  Slater 

familiar  are  "  Twinkle,  Twinkle,  Little  Star,"  and  "  My  Mother." 
One  stanza  of  the  latter  will  show  the  charm  of  their  writing: 

"  Who  ran  to  help  me  when  I  fell, 
And  would  some  pretty  story  tell, 
Or  kiss  the  place  to  make  it  well  ? 
My  mother !  " 
Mary  Russell  Mitford  (1787-1855)  was  educated  through  a  20,000 
pound  lottery  prize  won   by  her  father,   a  selfish   and  patientless 
physician,  and  spent  most  of  her  life  in  supporting  him  by  her  pen. 


WOMAN  WRITERS  499 

Her  best  book,  "  Our  Village,"  is  so  fresh,  finished,  full  of  delicate 
humor,  and  humanized  by  simple  pathos  that  it  won  the  approval  of 
the  best  critics  and  has  had  a  crowd  of  imitators  both  in  England 
and  America. 

Mrs.  Felicia  D.  Hemans,  born  Brown  (1793-1835),  wrote  some 


MARY  RUSSELL  MITFORD 

1787— 1855 
From  the  portrait  by  John  Lucas 

pretentious  poems  and  plays  now  forgotten  and  several  short  poems 
which  still  keep  her  memory  green.  A  few  citations  from  the  latter 
will  show  the  quality  of  her  work  and  fame: 

"  The  stately  homes  of  England, — 
How  beautiful  they  stand!" 

— The  Homes  of  England. 

"  The  breaking  waves  dashed  high 
On  a  stern  and  rock-bound  coast, 
And  the  woods  against  a  stormy  sky 
Their  giant  branches  tossed." 

— Landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 


-„()  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  The  boy  stood  on  the  burning  deck." 

— Casabtanca. 

•'  Leaves  have  their  time  to  fall, 
And  tlowcrs  to  wither  at  the  North-wind  s  breath, 

And  stars  to  set ;  but  all, 
Thou  hast  all  seasons  for  thy  own,  O  Death  ! 

—The  Hour  of  Death. 

Agnes  Strickland  (1796-1874),  with  the  aid  of  her  sister  Eliza- 
beth (1794-1875),  produced  1840-1848  her  "  Lives  of  the  Queens  of 
England  "  in  twelve  volumes.  This  was  followed  1850-1859  by  "  Lives 


MRS.  HEMANS 
1793— 1835 

of  the  Queens  of  Scotland  "  in  eight  volumes.  Both  works,  though 
uncritical  and  unreliable,  contain  original  material,  are  skillfully 
written,  and  have  been  widely  read. 

Harriet  Martineau  (1802-1876)  began  to  write  to  relieve  the 
tedium  caused  by  deafness,  and  continued  it  as  a  means  of  support. 
Her  publications  include  such  diverse  subjects  as  religion,  political 
economy,  travel  in  America,  romances,  household  manuals,  a  "  History 


WOMAN  WRITERS 


501 


of  England  During  the  Thirty  Years'  Peace  1816-1846,"  philosophy, 
guide  books,  and  her  own  memoirs. 

Charlotte  Bronte  (1816-1855)  was  the  daughter  of  the  Reverend 
Patrick  Bronte.  Her  life  was  one  of  the  saddest  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  literature.  She  lost  her  mother  1821;  narrowly  escaped 
death  from  fever  in  an  unsanitary  school;   underwent  the  equally 


CHARLOTTE   BRUXTE 
i8i6 — 1855 


painful  and  priceless  discipline  of  teaching;  suffered  acutely  from  the 
pangs  of  hopeless  love;  endured  agonies  of  shame  on  account  of  the 
vices  of  her  brother  Branwell ;  and  suffered  all  her  life  as  only  those 
can  suffer  in  whom  a  fiery  soul  over-informs  a  crazy  tenement  of  clay. 
From  the  black  soil  of  this  cruel  life  there  grew,  however,  three  great 
novels— "Jane  Eyre,"  1846;  "  Shirley,"  1849;  and  "  Vilette,"  1853. 


:,()>  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

In  •  Jane  Eyre,"  she  describes  love,  not  from  the  man's  but  from  the 
woman's  point  of  view;  in  "  Shirley  "  she  gives  a  bright  picture  of 
Yorkshire  life;  and  in  "  Vilette  "  she  writes  her  own  biography.  "Jane 
Eyre  "  is  the  most  popular,  "  Shirley  "  the  most  agreeable,  and  "  Vi- 
lette "  the  best  of  her  novels.  The  vitality  of  all  three  is  such  that 
they  still  retain  very  much  of  their  popularity. 

Emily  Bronte  (1818-1848),  the  sister  of  Charlotte,  left  one 
imperishable  novel,  "  Wuthering  Heights,"  and  some  poems  which 
cannot  be  forgotten.  She  was  so  shy  that  it  was  said  of  her  that  all  her 
love  was  reserved  for  animals  and  that  she  was  never  happy  except  on 
a  moor  or  in  a  glen.  Matthew  Arnold  compares  the  might,  passion, 
vehemence,  grief,  and  daring  of  h^r  soul  to  Byron's;  and  Swinburne 
says  she  was  a  greater  genius  than  her  sister.  One  of  her  poems, 
*'  The  Old  Stoic,"  gives  some  idea  of  her  spirit: 

"  Riches  I  hold  in  light  esteem, 
And  Love  I  laugh  to  scorn ; 
And  lust  of  fame  was  but  a  dream 
Tiiat  vanished  with  the  morn. 

"  And  if  T  pray,  the  only  prayer 
That  moves  my  lips  for  me 
Is  '  Leave  the  heart  that  now  I  bear 
And  give  me  liberty !  ' 

"  Yes,  as  my  swift  days  near  their  goal, 
'Tis  all  that  I  implore  ; 
In  life  and  death,  a  chainless  soul, 
With  courage  to  endure." 

The  fame  of  Elizabeth  Cleghorne  Stevenson,  better  known  as 
Mrs.  Gaskell  (1810-1865),  rests  mainly  on  "  Cranford,"  a  novel 
which  appeared  1851-1853  in  "  Household  Words."  This  is  the  story 
of  a  quiet  country  town,  and  depicts  almost  perfectly  a  society  in  which 
vivid  passion,  forcible  incident,  and  absorbing  motives  have  passed 
by  for  the  principal  personages,  and  have  not  yet  arrived  for  the 
secondary  characters. 

Jean  Ingelow  (1820-1897)  in  1863  published  a  volume  of  poems 
that  ran  through  four  editions  in  a  year  and  deserved  its  success,  for 
it  contained  "  High  Tide  on  the  Coast  of  Lincolnshire  in  1571."  She 
also  wrote  many  e.xcellent  stories  for  and  about  children. 


WOMAN  WRITERS  503 

Eliza  Cook  (1818-1889)  is  the  author  of  "  The  Old  Arm  Chair  " 
and  other  popular  poems. 

Adelaide  Anne  Procter(  1825-1864)  in  1858  published  two  volumes 
of"  Legends  and  Lyrics,"  which  in  1901  had  passed  through  thirteen 
editions. 

The  literary  achievements  of  these  ladies  sink  into  insignificance, 
however,  when  compared  with  those  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning, 
Jane  Austen,  and  George  Eliot.  These  are  so  important  that  each 
claims  a  separate  chapter  for  herself. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  In  what  period  did  women  first  take  their  place  in  Enghsh  literature? 

2.  With  what  great  poet   is  the   fame  of   Lady   Mary   Wortley   Montagu 

associated? 

3.  Who  was  the  first  important  Irish  woman  novelist? 

4.  Give  a  short  account  of  Charlotte  Bronte's  life  and  work. 

5.  Who   wrote  "Cranford"? 

6.  Upon  what  does  the  fame  of  Felicia  D.  Hemans  rest? 

7.  Who  wrote  "  Our  Village  "  ? 

8.  Who  were  the  three  greatest  woman  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century? 

9.  Write  a  composition  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  words  giving  your  esti- 

mate of  any  novel  mentioned  in  this  chapter  which  you  have  read. 
ID.  Are  more  women  writing  to-day  than  seventy  years  ago?     Give  reasons 
for  your  answer. 

Suggested  Readings. — The  poems  and  books  mentioned  in  the  text 
will  be  a  sufficient  guide  to  the  ambitious  student. 


ji^ei^ 


y 


\ 


CHAPTER  XLV 
JANE  AUSTEN   (1775-1817)* 

"  Sliakespcare  has  neither  equal  nor  second.  But,  among  the  writers 
who  have  approached  nearest  to  the  manner  of  the  great  master,  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  placing  Jane  Austen."— Macaulay. 

'■  The  realism  and  life-likeness  of  Miss  Austen's  Dramatis  Personse 
come  nearest  to  those  of  Shakespeare." — Tennyson. 

"  She  produced  novels  that  come  nearer  to  artistic  perfection  than  any 
others  in  the  English  language." — Harold  Child. 

Jane  Austen,  one  of  the  rpost  famous  and  gifted  of  English 
novelists,  was  born  December  16,  1775,  at  Steventon  in  Hampshire. 
Her  father,  George  Austen,  came  of  a  good  family,  was  a  man  of 
excellent  intellect,  had  been  left  penniless  at  an  early  age,  had  become 
a  fellow  at  Oxford,  had  taken  orders,  and  had  been  presented  by  rela- 
tives with  two  livings,  Deane  and  Steventon.  These  were  within  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  each  other  and  contained  together  not  over  300 
souls.  Jane's  mother,  Cassandra  Leigh,  came  from  an  equally 
good  family  and  appears  to  have  possessed  in  a  large  measure  the 
wit  and  good  nature  which  were  preeminently  characteristic  of  her 
gifted  daughter.  The  standing  of  both  father  and  mother  is  clearly 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  Warren  Hastings,  the  Governor- General 
of  India  whose  reputation  was  destroyed  by  Burke  and  whose  fame 
has  been  preserved  by  Macaulay,  during  one  of  his  absences  from 
England  left  his  eldest  son  in  their  charge. 

Jane  was  the  youngest  child  in  a  family  of  five  sons  and  two 
daughters.  As  was  then  the  almost  universal  custom  among  the 
gentry  of  England  and  France,  she  was  sent  as  soon  as  possible  after 
her  birth  to  a  farmer's  wife,  where  she  was  kept  until  she  had  reached 
such  an  age  that  her  presence  in  her  own  home  was  not  particularly 
inconvenient  to  her  parents.  In  France  parents  who  thus  farmed  out 
their  babies  often  sent  with  them  blank  death  certificates  for  their 

*  Taken   from  "  The  Life  of  Jane  Austen  "  contained  in  The  Pocket 
Classics  I'dition  of  "  Sense  and  Sensibility,"  published  by  The  Macmillan 
Company. 
604 


JANE  AUSTEN 


505 


foster  parents  to  fill  up  in  case  they  died.  Whether  such  a  document 
did  or  did  not  accompany  Jane  is  unknown;  at  all  events  it  was  not 
used,  for  she  throve  and  in  due  time  was  returned  to  Steventon. 

Steventon  is  located  about  seventy  miles  from  London  in  a  region 
that  is  sufficiently  commonplace,  being,  as  Miss  Austen  herself  said, 
neither  pleasant  nor  dreary,  hilly  nor  flat.  The  society  of  the  place 
was  in  keeping  with  its  topography.  Mr.  Austen  was  once  asked  by 
one  of  his  neighbors,  a  wealthy  squire:    "  You  know  all  about  these 


JANE  AUSTEN 

1775 — 1817 

From  a  drawing  made  at  the  age  of  15 

things.  Do  tell  us.  '  Is  Paris  in  France  or  France  in  Paris?  For  my 
wife  has  been  disputing  with  me  about  it.'  "  Fortunately  Jane  was 
not  dependent  for  spiritual  nourishment  on  either  the  scenery  or 
society  of  Steventon.  In  her  sister  Cassandra,  who  was  her  senior  by 
four  years,  she  found  a  companion  whose  presence  speedily  became 
so  essential  to  her  happiness  that  she  could  not  bear  to  have  her  leave 
to  go  to  school.     Mrs.  Austen  used  to  say:  "  If  Cassandra  were  going 


!<.;>...  >vv 


■^HW^        i!V. 


*  ■ 

a 

nr- 


btpr 


mxsr 


.111.    r     iJ'Vv 


JJH.  .:'4i4j|.  .:.  -*,.- 


•"  "'•nrrp-ji;^^ 


JANE  AUSTEN  507 

books,  is  indescribable.  That  is  to  say,  no  extracts  or  analyses  can 
convey  an  adequate  idea  of  its  charm.  In  it,  as  in  all  of  her  novels,  she 
depicts  character,  not  by  description,  but  by  showing  what  her  people 
are  by  their  speech  and  actions.  And  they  are  real.  They  are  never 
tuo  bright  or  good  for  human  nature's  daily  food.  Darcy,  the  hero, 
has  ten  thousand  pounds  a  year,  a  park,  and  so  much  adulation  that, 
in  spite  of  his  natural  good  sense,  he  is,  or  appears  to  be,  inflated  with 
sinful  Pride.  Elizabeth  Bennett,  the  heroine,  conceives  a  violent 
prejudice  against  him  on  account  of  this  superficial  fault,  while  he 
takes  a  perfectly  reasonable  dislike  to  her  mother,  whose  sole  purpose 
in  life  is  to  get  her  daughters  married.  After  these  external  causes 
have  produced  a  situation  which  makes  it  apparently  impossible  that 
Elizabeth  and  Darcy  shall  ever  again  even  so  much  as  see  each  other, 
except  by  accident,  mutual  respect  and  that  irresistible  attraction 
which  is  called  love  break  down  all  barriers  and  the  story  ends  as  all 
good  stories  should.  One  of  the  pleasantest  features  of  the  book  is  the 
picture  of  the  relations  of  Elizabeth  Bennett  and  her  father;  they  are 
what  we  should  now  call  good  chums.  But  its  greatest  superiority  over 
the  works  of  Miss  Burney  and  Miss  Edgeworth,  who  were  Jane 
Austen's  chief  contemporary  rivals  as  writers  of  fiction,  is,  as  Mrs. 
Charles  Maiden  says,  that  she  ventures  "  to  omit  the  moralizing 
which  our  ancestors  considered  necessary  to  counteract  the  baleful 
effects  of  being  amused."  "  Their  works,"  adds  the  same  writer,  "  in 
consequence  are  little  read  by  a  generation  which  prefers  drawing  its 
own  moral  to  finding  it  ready  made." 

When  Jane  had  finished  "  Pride  and  Prejudice  "  she  read  it  to  her 
family,  who  pronounced  it  superior  to  "  Evelina,"  Miss  Burney's  mas- 
terpiece, one  of  the  few  instances  in  which  family  pride  and  disinter- 
ested criticism  have  arrived  at  the  same  verdict.  Her  father  seems 
to  have  been  especially  pleased,  perhaps  because  he  was  unconsciously 
flattered  by  the  portrait  of  Mr.  Bennett.  At  all  events,  he  was  so 
impressed  with  the  book's  merits  that  he  made  to  Mr.  Cadell,  a  well- 
known  publisher,  a  proposition  to  print  it  at  the  author's  risk.  But 
George  Austen  was  destined  never  to  have  the  happiness  of  witnessing 
his  daughter's  fame.  By  return  mail  Mr.  Cadell  refused  to  under- 
take the  enterprise  on  any  terms,  and  "  Pride  and  Prejudice  "  remained 


-08  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

in  manuscript  for  sixteen  years.  Six  years  later,  while  living  at  Bath, 
Miss  Austen  had  so  far  recovered  from  the  mortification  of  this  refusal 
that  she  offered  "'  Northanger  Abbey  "  to  a  local  publisher,  who  ac- 
cepted it  and  paid  her  for  the  copyright  the  munificent  sum  of  ten 
pounds.  He  seems,  however,  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  bad  bargain,  for 
he  never  published  the  book.  Thirteen  years  later,  that  is,  in  1816, 
Jane  sent  her  brother  Henry  to  repurchase  the  manuscript,  which  he 
easily  did  l)y  paying  back  the  original  ten  pounds,  an  arrangement  of 
which  the  luckless  printer  probably  repented  when  the  triumphant 
Henry  allowed  himself  the  luxury  of  informing  him  that  the  book  was 
by  the  author  of  "  Pride  and  Prejudice." 

Fortunately  Mr.  Cadell's  refusal  did  not  discourage  Jane.  Three 
months  after  "  Pride  and  Prejudice  "  had  been  finished,  we  find  her 
hard  at  work  on  a  new  novel,  or  rather  a  revision  of  an  old  novel, 
•'  Elinor  and  Marianne,"  which  she  had  originally  written  in  the  form 
of  letters,  after  the  manner  of  Samuel  Richardson.  This,  when  it  was 
finished,  she  rechristened  "  Sense  and  Sensibility."  Though  inferior 
to  "  Pride  and  Prejudice,"  this  work  is  about  as  well  worth  reading  as 
any  novel  which,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  written  in  the  English 
language.  There  is  no  superfluity  of  tiresome  description.  The 
characters  are  real.  Though  both  lovable  girls,  Elinor  and  Mari- 
anne are  as  imperfect  and  as  different  as  sisters  are  apt  to  be  in  real 
life.  Vulgar  match-making  Mrs.  Jennings,  as  Austin  Dobson  calls 
her,  Hke  many  a  flesh  and  blood  dowager,  at  first  repels  us  by  her 
foolish  prattle  and  finally  wins  our  respect  by  her  kindness.  Sir  John 
Middleton,  with  his  horror  of  being  alone;  Lady  Middleton,  with  her 
horror  of  impropriety;  Miss  Steele,  who  can  always  be  made  happy 
by  being  teased  about  the  Doctor;  Lucy  Steele,  pretty,  clever,  not 
overfastidious  in  her  principles,  and  abominably  weak  in  her  gram- 
mar; Robert  Ferrars,  whose  airs  are  justly  punished  by  his  marriage 
to  Lucy;  Mrs.  Ferrars,  who  contrives  to  be  uniformly  unamiable; 
Mrs.  John  Dashwood,  fit  daughter  to  such  a  mother;  and  Mr.  John 
Dashwood,  fit  husband  to  such  a  wife — together  form  a  gallery  of 
portraits  of  which  any  author  might  be  proud.  The  book,  too,  is 
rich  in  humor.  Among  other  delightful  things  we  read  of  a  will  which, 
like  almost  every  other  will,  gave  as  much  disappointment  as  pleasure; 


JANE  AUSTEN  509 

of  a  child  of  three,  who  possesses  the  usual  charms  of  that  age,  an 
imperfect  articulation,  an  earnest  desire  of  having  his  own  way,  many 
c  unning  tricks,  and  a  great  deal  of  noise;  of  apricot  marmalade  applied 
successfully  as  a  remedy  for  a  bruised  temple;  of  a  company  who  met 
to  eat,  drink,  and  laugh  together,  to  play  at  cards  or  consequences,  or 
any  other  game  that  was  sufficiently  noisy;  of  a  husband  who  is  always 
making  remarks  which  his  wife  considers  so  droll  but  cannot  remem- 
ber; of  Constantia  wine,  which  is  equally  good  for  colicky  gout  and 
broken  hearts;  of  a  face  of  strong  natural  sterling  insignificance;  of 
a  girl  who  is  pleased  that  a  man  called  and  still  more  pleased  that 
she  missed  him;  of  a  woman  of  few  words,  for,  unlike  people  in  general, 
she  proportioned  them  to  the  number  of  her  ideas;  of  a  newspaper 
item  that  interested  nobody  except  those  who  knew  its  contents  before; 
and  of  a  man  who  was  perfectly  the  gentleman  in  his  behavior  to  guests 
and  only  occasionally  rude  to  his  wife  and  mother-in-law.  It  is  true 
that  the  two  heroes  are  not  very  heroic,  Edward  Ferrars  being  only 
a  curate  and  Colonel  Brandon  a  poor  old  man  of  thirty-six  with  a 
flannel  waistcoat,  but  the  latter  is  pretty  thoroughly  the  gentleman 
and  the  former  gives  up  a  fortune  of  30,000  pounds  in  order  to 
marry  a  girl  whom  he  does  not  love,  thereby  furnishing,  if  not  an 
example  of  good  sense,  at  least  an  agreeable  contrast  to  Marianne's 
Willoughby,  who  marries  a  girl  whom  he  does  not  love  in  order  to  get 
the  money  which  he  is  too  genteel  to  earn.  On  the  whole,  when  all 
is  said  and  done,  it  is  a  wonderful  book  to  have  been  written  by  a 
girl  of  twenty-one. 

After  finishing  "  Sense  and  Sensibility,"  Jane  Austen  went  to  work 
almost  immediately  on  "  Northanger  Abbey,"  in  which  she  essayed, 
not,  as  in  all  of  her  other  novels,  to  hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature,  but  to 
parody  and  burlesque  those  popular  novels  of  her  day  in  which  the 
heroes  and  heroines  were  forced  into  hair-raising  situations  and 
extricated  therefrom  by  impossible  means.  The  heroine,  Catherine 
Moreland,  goes  to  Bath  to  live  with  Mrs.  Allen,  who  is  so  unattractive 
that  one  wonders  how  any  man  could  like  her  well  enough  to  marry 
her.  At  Bath  she  is  introduced  by  an  acquaintance  to  "  Udolpho," 
"  The  Castle  of  Wolfenbach,"  "  Clermont,"  "  Mysterious  Warnings," 
"  The  Necromancer  of  the  Black  Forest,"  "  The  Midnight  Bell," 


510  ENGLISH  LITERATUKE 

"  The  Orphan  of  the  Rhine,"  and  "  Horrid  Mysteries,"  all  novels 
which  abound  in  black  veils  and  are  otherwise  perfectly  awful.  After 
she  has  supped  full  on  these  horrors,  she  is  invited  to  visit  Northanger 
Abbey,  the  home  of  Harry  Tilney,  with  whom  she  is  in  love.  She  goes 
thither  expecting  to  have  adventures  similar  to  those  depicted  in  the 
books  she  has  been  reading,  and  Henry  amuses  himself  by  assuring 
her  that  she  may  expect  plenty  of  horror  and  mystery.  The  result  is 
that  she  makes  herself  very  ridiculous,  gets  a  juster  notion  of  Mrs. 
Radcliffe's  novels,  and,  after  a  sufficient  amount  of  rage  on  the  part 
of  General  Tilney,  Henry's  father,  marries  that  young  man. 

"  Northanger  Abbey  "  was  finished  in  1798.  In  1801,  owing  to  the 
failure  of  his  health,  George  Austen  removed  with  his  family  from 
Steventon  to  Bath,  where  they  resided  until  his  death  four  years  later. 
During  this  period  Jane  wrote  httle.  Anxiety  on  her  father's  account 
or  uncongenial  surroundings  were  perhaps  responsible.  At  all  events, 
she  appears  to  have  rejoiced  when  the  opportunity  came  to  escape 
from  the  more  or  less  gay  health  resort  to  the  more  normal  atmos- 
phere of  Southampton.  Here,  during  four  more  years,  the  Austens 
resided,  but  here,  too,  they  failed  to  feel  thoroughly  at  home;  and 
when,  in  1809,  Jane's  second  brother,  Edward,  offered  them  Chawton 
Cottage  on  his  estate  in  Hampshire,  they  gladly  accepted  the  oppor- 
tunity to  escape  from  Southampton. 

At  Chawton  Jane's  life  was  enriched  by  frequent  visits  from  her 
brother "s  children,  one  of  whom  tells  us  that,  though  he  must  have 
grievously  interrupted  her  writing  by  his  visits,  she  never  caused 
him,  either  by  open  protests  or  repressed  marks  of  annoyance,  to  feel 
that  he  was  unwelcome.  Another  writes:  ''  As  a  very  little  girl  I 
was  always  creeping  up  to  Aunt  Jane  and  following  her  whenever  I 
could.  Her  first  charm  to  children  was  great  sweetness  of  manner. 
She  seemed  to  love  you  and  you  loved  her  in  return.  This  was  what 
I  felt  in  my  early  days  before  I  was  old  enough  to  be  amused  by  her 
cleverness.  But  soon  came  the  delight  of  her  playful  talk;  she  could 
make  everything  amusing  to  a  child.  Then,  as  I  got  older,  when 
cousins  came  to  share  the  entertainment,  she  would  tell  us  the  most 
delightful  stories,  chiefly  of  Fairyland,  and  her  fairies  had  all  charac- 
ters of  their  own.  The  tale  was  invented,  I  am  sure,  at  the  moment, 
and  was  continued  for  two  or  three  days  if  occasion  served." 


JANE  AUSTEN  511 

Under  the  genial  influence  of  her  new  environment,  Jane's  Hterary 
ambition  revived  to  such  an  extent  that  she  ventured  to  offer  "  Sense 
and  SensibiUty  "  for  pubHcation  to  Egerton.  He  accepted  it  and  in 
1811  the  book  appeared  anonymously.  Fearful  lest  the  venture  prove 
a  financial  loss,  she  is  said  to  have  saved  enough  from  her  income  to 
meet  any  possible  deficit.  The  precaution,  happily,  proved  needless. 
She  was  soon  gladdened  by  a  check  for  150  pounds,  which  she  received 
with  the  remark  that  it  was  a  great  deal  to  earn  for  so  little  trouble. 

Like  all  of  the  novels  that  she  published  herself,  "  Sense  and  Sensi- 
bility "  appeared  without  Miss  Austen's  name,  though,  unlike  George 
Eliot,  she  is  said  never  to  have  denied  having  written  them.  She 
probably  dreaded  the  inroads  on  her  privacy  which  are  apt  to  come 
with  successful  authorship.  At  all  events,  we  find  Aunt  Cassandra 
about  this  time  writing  to  one  of  her  nieces  to  caution  her  not  to  tell 
anybody  that  Aunt  Jane  is  the  author  of  "  Sense  and  Sensibility." 
Aunt  Jane,  indeed,  was  very  modest  about  her  creations.  She  called 
them  paintings  on  "  little  bits  of  ivory  two  inches  wide,"  having  refer- 
ence no  doubt  to  the  commonplaceness  of  her  material.  Herein,  how- 
ever, is  perhaps  the  truest  mark  of  her  genius.  While  many  great 
writers  have  built  grandly  with  grand  material,  she  reared  an  immor- 
tal structure  out  of  nothing.  So  narrowly  confined,  indeed,  are  her 
subjects  to  the  environment  in  which  she  lived  that  her  readers  are  apt 
to  think  her  characters  portraits  of  real  people.  But  they  are  not. 
They  are  everlasting  types.  We  have  met  them  all  in  real  life.  She 
herself,  when  somebody  suggested  that  she  had  been  drawing  like- 
nesses, said:  "  Pray  do  not  think  me  guilty  of  such  an  invasion  of  the 
social  proprieties.  I  am  too  proud  of  my  gentlemen  to  admit  that 
they  are  only  Mr.  A.  or  Col.  B." 

Emboldened  by  the  success  of  "  Sense  and  Sen^bility,"  in  1813 
she  gave  "  Pride  and  Prejudice  "  to  the  world.  Though  her  name  did 
not  appear  on  the  book,  a  great  many  expressions  of  admiration 
reached  her,  the  most  conspicuous  person  who  declared  himself  a  Jane 
Austen  enthusiast  being  Warren  Hastings.  Her  happiness  was  com- 
pleted when  Dr.  Isham  said  he  was  sure  that  he  would  not  like 
Madame  D'Arblay's  new  novel  half  so  well. 

"  Pride  and  Prejudice,"  "  Sense  and  Sensibility,"  and  "  Northan- 


5H  ENGLISH  LITERATIRE 

per  Abbey  "  are  the  works  of  a  girl;  in  her  remaining  novels,  "  Mans- 
field Park,"  "  Emma,"  and  "  Persuasion,"  the  motives  and  actions  of 
the  characters  are  more  complex,  the  satire  gentler,  the  feeUngs  more 
womanly.  The  plots  in  the  latter  group  unfold  more  slowly  and  natur- 
ally. In  the  earlier  novels,  as  a  critic  has  pointed  out,  the  really 
predominant  passion  is  the  love  of  the  sisters  for  each  other;  in  each 
of  her  last  three  and  greatest  novels  Jane  Austen  has  painted  a  woman 
loving  sincerely  and  with  good  cause  but  uncertain  if  her  love  is 
returned. 

Mansfield  Park  is  the  ancestral  home  of  the  Bertram  family.  Sir 
Thomas  and  Lady  Bertram  have  two  sons,  Tom  and  Edmund,  and  two 
daughters,  Maria  and  Julia.  One  of  Lady  Bertram's  sisters,  Mrs. 
Price,  has  married  to  disoblige  her  family  and  has  succeeded  so  thor- 
oughly that  she  has  been  reduced  to  a  state  of  comparative  poverty. 
To  assist  her,  Sir  Thomas  and  Lady  Bertram  take  her  daughter, 
Fanny  Price,  into  their  home,  to  bring  her  up.  Miss  Austen  tells 
with  great  skill  and  charm  how  Maria  and  Julia  despise  their  poor 
cousin  because  she  cannot  tell  the  principal  rivers  in  Russia  or  the 
chronological  order  of  the  kings  of  England;  how  Edmund,  who  is 
destined  for  the  church,  is  kind  to  her;  how,  in  the  absence  of  Sir 
Thomas  Bertram,  the  young  people  devise  amateur  theatricals,  the 
rehearsals  of  which,  depicted  with  admirable  humor,  result  in  a  vast 
amount  of  flirtation;  how  Edmund  thinks  he  is  in  love  with  Mary 
Crawford,  a  rich  and  hardened  coquette;  how  Henry  Crawford,  her 
brother,  first  falls  in  love  with  Fanny  Price  and  then  runs  away  with 
Julia  Bertram;  and  how,  finally,  Edmund  discovers  that  he  loves 
Fanny,  who  has  known  for  a  long  time  that  she  loves  him,  the  result 
being  a  very  satisfactory  marriage.  Fanny  is  a  lovely  girl,  Edmund 
a  typical  English  gentleman.  The  book  is  long,  but  readable  from 
cover  to  cover. 

"  Mansfield  Park  "  was  printed  in  1814;  "  Emma,"  Miss  Austen's 
next  novel,  in  1816.  In  "  Mansfield  Park  "  Fanny  is  introduced  to  us 
as  a  poor  self-effacing  little  girl ;  in  "  Emma,"  Emma  Woodhouse,  when 
we  first  know  her.  has  so  much  leisure  and  luxury  that,  wanting  occu- 
pation, she  busies  herself  injudiciously  in  other  people's  affairs. 
But.  though  they  start  from  opposite  directions,  both  heroines  reach 


JANE  AUSTEN  613 

the  same  goal;  both  become  happy  and  excellent  women.  Emma 
induces  Harriet  Smith  to  reject  the  love  of  a  young  farmer  named 
Martin  because  he  is  so  ungenteel  as  to  earn  an  honest  living;  and  per- 
suades her,  instead,  to  set  her  cap  for  Mr.  Elton,  a  silly  young  curate, 
who  is  not  fit  to  tie  Martin's  shoe  strings.  Elton  thinks  Emma  is  her- 
self in  love  with  him,  and,  to  her  amazement,  proposes,  so  that  she  has 
to  reject  him  and  at  the  same  time  inform  Harriet  that  her  plans  have 
gone  a-gley.  Then  appears  Frank  Churchill,  who  is  secretly  engaged 
to  Jane  Fairfax,  but  who,  in  order  to  conceal  that  fact,  starts  a  flir- 
tation with  Emma.  In  this  gentle  art  he  is  such  an  adept  that  Emma 
almost  persuades  herself  that  she  loves  him,  but  Jane  becomes  jealous 
and  the  true  state  of  affairs  has  to  be  revealed.  In  the  meantime 
Harriet  Smith  has  fallen  in  love  with  Mr.  Knightley,  "  one  of  the  few 
people  who  could  see  the  faults  in  Emma  Woodhouse  and  the  only 
one  who  ever  told  her  of  them."  Knightley  is  a  real  man  and,  as 
soon  as  Emma  learns  that  Harriet  has  dared  to  aspire  to  him,  it  is 
definitely  revealed  to  her  that  she  loves  him  herself.  In  the  end, 
Emma  gets  Knightley;  Jane,  Churchill;  and  Harriet,  Martin. 
"  Emma  "  in  some  respects  is  the  best  of  Miss  z'\usten's  novels. 

While  she  was  in  London  seeing  it  through  the  press,  her  brother 
fell  ill  and  was  attended  by  the  Prince  Regent's  physician,  whose  royal 
master  was  such  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  her  works  that  he  kept 
dupHcate  copies  of  them  at  his  various  houses.  He  told  the  Prince 
that  Miss  Austen  was  in  London  and  the  latter  was  gracious  enough 
to  send  his  librarian  to  her  with  an  intimation  that  he  would  not 
be  displeased  to  receive  the  dedication  of  her  next  novel. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  mark  of  royal  favor  was  gratifying 
to  Miss  Austen,  for  it  was  one  of  the  last  tributes  to  her  genius  that 
she  received.  During  1816  her  health  grew  worse  and  worse,  and  in 
May,  1817,  she  moved  with  her  sister  to  Winchester  in  order  to  be 
near  an  eminent  physician.  His  skill,  however,  was  unavailing,  and 
she  died  July  18.    She  rests  in  Winchester  Cathedral. 

She  left  two  unpublished  novels,  "  Xorthanger  Abbey,"  written 

1798,  and  "  Persuasion,"  which  she  had  finished  only  a  twelvemonth 

before  her  death.    Though  inferior  in  some  respects  to  "  Emma,"  the 

latter  is  characterized  by  a  beauty  and  tenderness  found  in  none  of  her 

S3 


3H  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

other  works.  It  is  a  simple  story.  Anne  Elliot,  the  second  daughter  of 
.Sir  \V;ilter  Elliot  of  Kellynch  Hall,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  is  wooed 
and  won  by  a  young  naval  officer,  Frederick  Wentworth,  who  is  in 
every  way  worthy  of  her  except  that  he  is  not  titled  or  rich.  For 
these  reasons  her  relatives  persuade  her  to  break  their  engagement. 
Eight  years  go  by,  and,  meeting  again,  they  find  by  degrees  that  they 
are  still  necessary  to  each  other's  happiness.  "  Dear,  charming 
Anne  Elliot!  "  wTites  Mrs.  Maiden.  "We  rejoice  to  feel  that  we 
are  leaving  her  in  the  midst  of  such  a  tender  radiant  Indian  summer 
of  happiness.  .  .  .  "  Persuasion "- is  the  swan  song  of  Jane 
Austen's  authorship,  and,  true  to  its  character,  the  saddest  and 
sweetest  of  her  works." 

"  Persuasion  "  and  "  Northanger  Abbey  "  were  published  together 
in  1818,  being  the  first  of  her  novels  to  appear  under  her  own  name. 
Since  then  her  fame  has  steadily  grown.  In  1821  Dr.  Whateley,  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  published  in  the  "  Quarterly  Review  "  an  article  on 
her  works,  in  which  he  said: 

"  They  may  be  safely  recommended  not  only  as  among  the  most 
unexceptionable  of  their  class,  but  as  combining,  in  an  eminent  degree, 
instruction  with  amusement,  though  without  the  direct  effort  at  the 
former  of  which  we  have  complained  as  sometimes  defeating  its 
object.  For  those  who  cannot  or  will  not  learn  anything  from  pro- 
ductions of  this  kind,  she  has  provided  entertainment  which  entitles 
her  to  thanks." 

Sir  Walter  Scott  wrote  in  his  Journal: 

"  Read  again,  for  the  third  time  at  least.  Miss  Austen's  finely 
written  novel  of  "  Pride  and  Prejudice."  That  young  lady  has  a  talent 
for  describing  the  involvements  and  feelings  and  characters  of  ordi- 
nar>'  life,  which  is,  to  me,  the  most  wonderful  I  have  ever  met  with. 
The  big  Bow- Wow  strain  I  can  do  myself  like  any  now  going;  but  the 
exquisite  touch  which  renders  ordinary  commonplace  things  and  char- 
acters interesting  from  the  truth  of  the  description  and  the  sentiment 
is  denied  to  me.     What  a  pity  such  a  gifted  creature  died  so  early!  " 

Among  her  other  early  admirers  were  Sydney  Smith,  Southey, 
Coleridge,  Guizot,  and  Lord  Macaulay.  Trevelyan,  in  his  biography  of 
the  last-named  enthusiast,  says:  "  Amidst  the  infinite  variety  of  lighter 


JANE  AUSTEN  515 

literature  with  which  he  beguiled  his  leisure,  "  Pride  and  Prejudice  " 
and  the  five  sister  novels  remained  without  a  rival  in  his  affections.  He 
never  for  a  moment  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  Miss  Austen.  In 
1858  he  notes  in  his  Journal:  '  If  I  could  get  materials,  I  really  would 
write  a  short  life  of  that  wonderful  woman,  and  raise  a  little  money 
to  put  up  a  monument  to  her  in  Winchester  Cathedral.'  "  George 
Henry  Lewes  calls  her  one  of  the  greatest  writers  that  ever  lived. 
Tennyson  read  and  reread  her  novels,  on  which  he  thus  commented: 
"  The  realism  and  life-likeness  of  Miss  Austen's  dramatis  personge 
come  nearest  to  those  of  Shakespeare.  Shakespeare,  however,  is  a 
sun  to  which  Jane  Austen,  though  a  bright  and  true  little  world,  is 
but  an  asteroid."  George  Eliot  called  her  "  the  greatest  artist  that 
has  ever  written,  the  most  perfect  master  over  the  means  to  her  end." 
George  Saintsbury,  perhaps  the  greatest  of  living  critics,  considers  her 
the  first  of  all  novelists. 

In  spite  of  all  this  appreciation  from  those  best  fitted  to  judge 
of  her  powers,  it  was  not  until  1870  that  the  life  of  Jane  Austen  was 
given  to  the  world.  In  that  year  her  nephew,  the  Reverend  J.  Austen 
Leigh,  published  a  biography  of  his  gifted  aunt.  At  the  present  time 
her  fame  is  secure,  though,  like  Milton,  her  popularity  seems  destined 
to  be  confined  to  the  fit  and  few.  Indeed,  one  eminent  man  has  said, 
half  in  jest  and  half  in  earnest,  that,  in  order  to  determine  whether 
a  person  has  or  has  not  ability,  one  has  only  to  ascertain  whether  he 
does  or  does  not  like  Miss  Austen's  books. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Give  an  account  of  Jane  Austen's  life  and  surroundings  up  until  1795. 

2.  What  do  you  mean  by  "  reality  "  in  a  novel  ? 

3.  Did  you  draw  a  moral  from  the  last  novel  you  read? 

4.  Give  an  account  of  Miss  Austen's  relations  with  her  publishers. 

5.  Mention  Miss  Austen's  six  novels  and  name  some  special  attribute  of 

each. 

6.  What  part  did  imagination,  experience,  observation,  natural  genius,  and 

literary  training  play  in  the  creation  of  Miss  Austen's  novels? 

7.  Name  two  great  men  of  letters  who  were  especially  fond  of  "  Pride 

and  Prejudice." 

8.  Locate  "  Steventon  "  upon  your  outline  map. 

Q.  Name  four  of  Miss  .\usten's  greatest  contemporaries. 
10.  To   what  extent  was  her  work  influenced  bv  the  times   in   which   she 
lived  ? 
Suggested   Readings. — You   will    never    regret    reading   "  Sense    and 
SeuLibility,"  or  any  or  all  of  her  other  novels. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 
ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING  (1806-1861) 

'•  A  woman  of  undoubted  genius  and  most  unusual  learning."— Qwor- 
terly  Rei-icu: 

"  She  has  surpassed  all  her  poetic  contemporaries  of  either  sex,  with 
one  exception  (Tennyson) ."—Edgar  Allan  Poe. 

"  So  Robert  Browning  and  Miss  Barrett  have  married.     I  hope  they 
understand  each  other.     Nobody  else  would."— IV ordsworth. 

"  All  a  wonder  and  a  wild  desire."— Browning. 

"  Elizabeth  Barrett,  daughter  of  Edward  Barrett  Moulton  Bar- 
rett, and  Mary  his  wife,  born  at  Coxhoe  Hall,  County  of  Durham, 
March  the  6th,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  the  year  1806." 
So  runs  the  parish  register  recording  the  birth  of  the  poetess.  Mr. 
Barrett  was  a  man  of  despotic  temper  with  a  fixed  belief  in  the  divin? 
right  of  fathers,  but  he  encouraged  and  was  proud  of  his  gifted 
daughter,  who  repaid  him  with  a  passionate  affection.  "  I  wrote 
verses  very  early,"  she  says.  "  The  Greeks  were  my  demigods  and 
haunted  me  out  of  Pope's  Homer  till  I  dreamt  more  of  Agamemnon 
than  of  Moses  the  black  pony.  Of  a  childish  epic  in  four  books,  called 
the  'Battle  of  Marathon,'  fifty  copies  were  printed  because  papa  was 
bent  on  spoiling  me."  To  her  brother  Edward,  her  inseparable  com- 
panion in  work  and  play,  she  owed  her  early  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics  and  the  pet  name  of  Ba,  by  which  she  was  known 
to  the  end  of  her  life.  "  We  lived  at  Hope  End,"  she  writes,  "  in  a 
retirement  scarcely  broken  except  by  my  books  and  my  own  thoughts. 
A  bird  in  a  cage  could  have  as  good  a  story."  During  these  quiet 
years  of  her  girlhood  the  well-known  Greek  student,  Hugh  Stuart 
Boyd,  came  to  live  at  Great  Malvern.  A  fast  friendship  sprang  up 
between  them.  The  long  mornings  spent  with  him  over  their  beloved 
Greek  she  describes  in  "  Wine  of  Cyprus  "  as  follows: 

"  And   I   think  of  those  long   mornings, 
Which  my  thought  goes    far  to  seek, 
When,    betwixt   the    folio's    turnings. 
Solemn  flowed  the  rliythmic  Greek. 
516 


ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING  517 

Past  the  pane  the  mountain   si)reading 

Swept  the  sheep-ljell's  tinkhng  noise, 
While  a  girUsh   voice  was  reading  ^^ 

Somewhat  low  for  ai's  and  oi's." 

In  1826  she  published  anonymously  ''An  Essay  on  Mind  and  Other 
Poems,"  "  a  didactic  poem  long  repented  of,"  she  wrote  later,  "  yet 
the  bird  pecks  through  the  shell  of  it."  In  1828  her  mother  died. 
In  1832  the  home  at  Hope  End  was  sold.    For  two  years  the  family 


ELIZABETH   BARRETT   BROWNING 

i8o6— i86i 

From  the  drawing  by  Field  Talfourd 

resided  at  Sidmouth.  In  1835  she  published  "  Prometheus  Bound," 
a  translation  from  the  Greek  of  ^Eschylus.  Then  they  moved  to 
74  Gloucester  Place,  London,  and  here  Elizabeth  met  many  important 
literary  people,  especially  Mary  Russell  Mitford,  who  thus  describes 
her  appearance  at  that  time:  "  A  slight  girlish  figure,  very  delicate, 
with  exquisite  hands  and  feet;  a  round  face  with  a  most  noble  fore- 
head; large  dark  eyes  with  such  eyelashes;  a  dark  complexion,  liter- 


518  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

ally  as  bright  as  the  dark  China  rose;  a  profusion  of  silky  dark  curls; 
and  a  look  of  \outh  and  modesty  hardly  to  be  expressed." 

"  Then  came  the  failure  in  my  health,  which  had  never  been 
strong,"  writes  Elizabeth.  Henceforth  she  was  restricted  to  an  invaUd 
routine,  but  her  poetry  continued  to  afford  an  absorbing  occupation. 
She  soon  had  access  to  the  columns  of  several  magazines.  In  1838  the 
family  removed  to  50  \\'impole  Street.  The  same  year  she  published 
"  The  Seraphim  and  Other  Poems,"  which  included  "  Cowper's  Grave." 
The  death  of  her  brother,  Edward,  who  was  drowned  hke  Shelley  in  a 
yacht,  so  undermined  her  remaining  strength  that  from  1840  on  she 
lived  in  the  seclusion  of  a  darkened  room  in  almost  daily  expectation 
oi  death.  Meanwhile  her  poetic  fame  was  growing.  "  The  Cry  of  the 
Children,"  suggested  by  a  "  Report  on  Mines  and  Factories,"  attracted 
much  attention.  Late  in  1844  there  were  published  two  volumes  of 
poems  of  hers.  They  included  "  The  Drama  of  Exile,"  "  The  Cry  of 
the  Children,"  "  A  Vision  of  Poets,"  and  "  Lady  Geraldine's  Court- 
ship." A  burst  of  applause  greeted  them  and  Elizabeth  Barrett  was 
universally  recognized  as  the  greatest  woman-poet  of  her  time. 

The  volume  came  into  the  hands  of  a  slim,  dark,  very  handsome 
young  man,  who  was  himself  the  author  of  a  notable  poem  called 
■  Paracelsus."  His  name  was  Robert  Browning.  In  January  10, 
1845,  he  wrote  her  that  he  prized  her  work.  At  first  his  request  to  be 
allowed  to  see  the  poetess  was  refused  on  account  of  the  seclusion 
required  by  her  health;  but  he  carried  his  point  (Robert  Browning 
carried  most  points),  and  on  May  21,  1845,  the  two  poets  met.  Im- 
mediately their  fate  was  sealed.  The  story  of  their  courtship  has  been 
twice  given  to  the  world:  first  in  her  "  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese  " 
and  since  in  ''  The  Letters  of  Robert  Browning  and  Elizabeth  Barrett  " 
—the  only  letters  that  ever  passed  between  them,  for  after  their 
marriage  they  were  never  apart. 

Her  health  and  the  almost  insane  opposition  of  Mr.  Barrett  to 
the  marriage  of  any  of  his  children  at  first  caused  them  serious  anxiety. 
Her  condition,  however,  under  the  stimulus  of  happiness  improved  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  doctors  urged  a  winter  abroad  for  her.  This 
her  father  refused  to  sanction  and  his  refusal  drove  the  two  lovers 
to  risk  the  final  step.     Accordingly,  on  September  12,  1846,  they  were 


ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING  519 

married  in  the  strictest  privacy.  A  week  later  they  departed,  also 
in  strict  privacy,  for  the  continent. 

It  was  soon  evident  that  the  hazardous  experiment  was  a  success. 
Mrs.  Browning's  health  rallied  under  the  influence  of  sunshine  without 
and  within.  Their  first  resting  place  was  Pisa,  where  they  spent  the 
winter  of  1846-1847.  In  April  they  moved  to  Florence,  rented  an  old 
palace  called  Casa  Guidi,  and  lived  there  to  the  end  of  her  life  for 
nothing  or  next  to  nothing,  with  six  beautiful  rooms  and  a  kitchen, 
three  of  them  quite  palace  rooms,  opening  on  a  terrace  opposite  the 
gray  wall  of  a  church  called  San  Felice  for  good  omen.  Here  the 
happy  days  sped  on  with  little  to  mark  their  flight  except  the  gift  to 
the  world  from  time  to  time  of  new  poems  from  one  or  the  other; 
and  here  on  March  9,  1849,  their  only  child,  Robert  Wiedemann 
Barrett  Browning,  was  born.  In  1850,  on  the  death  of  Wordsworth, 
the  "  Athenaeum  "  suggested  that  Mrs.  Browning  be  made  poet- 
laureate  as  a  graceful  compliment  to  a  youthful  queen  in  recognition 
of  the  remarkable  literary  place  taken  by  women  in  her  reign.  In  the 
summer  of  1851  they  visited  England,  but  her  father  did  not  answer 
a  letter  in  which  she  asked  him  so  far  to  relent  as  to  kiss  her  child. 
Her  "  Casa  Guidi  Windows,"  a  plea  for  the  freedom  of  Italy,  was  pub- 
lished this  year.  Her  mind  at  this  time,  to  the  annoyance  of  her  hus- 
band, was  much  occupied  with  the  phenomena  of  spiritualism.  In 
1856  she  published  "  Aurora  Leigh,"  a  romance  in  nine  books  of  blank 
verse.     Its  success  was  immediate  and  wide. 

Thus  they  dwelt  at  Casa  Guidi,  she  happy  except  for  the  infamy 
of  the  English  public,  who  recognized  her  genius  but  would  not  or 
could  not  understand  the  far  greater  genius  of  her  husband.  "  While 
in  America,"  she  added,  "  he  is  a  power,  a  writer,  a  poet — he  is  read — 
he  lives  in  the  heart  of  the  people."  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  was  one 
of  their  appreciative  American  visitors;  and  their  friend  W.  W.  Story, 
the  American  sculptor,  has  left  the  best  picture  we  have  of  their  home. 
He  says:  "  We  can  never  forget  the  square  ante-room  with  its 
pianoforte,  at  which  the  boy  Browning  passed  many  an  hour;  the 
little  dining-room  where  hung  medallions  of  Tennyson,  Carlyle,  and 
Robert  Browning;  the  long  room  filled  with  plaster-casts  and  studies, 
which  was  Mr.  Browning's  retreat;  and,  dearest  of  all,  the  drawing- 


5^0  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

room  where  she  always  sat.  ...  To  those  who  loved  Mrs. 
Browning— and  to  know  her  was  to  love  her — she  was  singularly 
attractive.  Hers  was  not  the  beauty  of  feature;  it  was  the  loftier 
beauty  of  expression.  Her  slight  figure  seemed  hardly  large  enough 
to  contain  the  great  heart  that  beat  so  fervently  within.  Her  charac- 
ter was  w^ell-nigh  perfect.  Association  with  the  Brownings,  even 
though  of  the  slightest  nature,  made  one  better  in  mind  and  soul." 

The  loss  of  a  sister,  disappointment  over  the  political  fortunes  of 
Italy,  and  the  failure  of  the  public  to  recognize  her  husband's  genius 
gradually  brought  back  her  old  weakness.  She  died  June  29,  1861. 
Her  last  word,  in  reply  to  his  question,  "  How  do  you  feel?  "  was 
"  Beautiful."  She  was  buried  in  the  Protestant  cemetery  in  Florence. 
Her  husband  had  a  white  marble  memorial  erected  over  her  grave,  and 
the  city  of  Florence  recorded  her  gratitude  on  a  slab,  also  of  white 
marble,  on  the  wall  of  Casa  Guidi. 

Her  lyrics  stand  among  the  best  in  English.  They  are  distin- 
guished by  hate  of  hate,  love  of  love,  and  scorn  of  scorn.  Some  slight 
notion  of  their  power  and  beauty  may  perhaps  be  gained  from  the 
following  quotations: 

"  It  is  a  place  where  poets  crowned  may  feel  the  heart's  decaying, 
It  is  a  place  where  happy  saints  may  weep  amid  their  praying; 
Vet  let  the  grief  and  humbleness  as  low  as  silence  languish ! 
Eartli  surely  now  may  give  her  calm  to  whom  she  gave  her  anguish. 
O  poets !  from  a  maniac  tongue  was  poured  the  deathless  singing! 
O  Christians!  at  your  cross  of  hope  a  hopeless  hand  was  clinging! 
O  men  !  this  man  in  brotherhood,  your  weary  paths  beguiling, 
Groaned  inly  while  he  taught  you  peace  and  died  while  ye  were  smiling." 

— Cowper's  Grave. 
"  Here  Homer,   with   the  broad   suspense 
Of  thunderous  brows,  and  lips  intense 
Of  garrulous  god-innocence." 

— A  Vision  of  Poets. 

"  There  Shakespeare !  on  whose  forehead  climb 
The  crowns  o'  the  world!     Oh  eyes  sublime— 
With  tears  and  laughter  for  all  time !  " 


"  And    Chaucer,    with   his    infantine 
Familiar  clasp  of  things  divine." 


Ibid. 
Ibid. 


Yes!  '  I  answered  you  last  night; 

'No!'  this  morning,  Sir,  I  say. 
Colors  seen  by  candle  light 

Will  not  look  the  same  by  day." 

— The  Lady's  "  Yes. 


ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING  521 

"  Do  you  hear  the  children  weeping, 
O  my  brothers, 
Ere  the   sorrow   comes   with   years? 
They  are  leaning  their  young  heads  against  their  mothers, 
And  that  cannot  stop  their  tears." 

— The  Cry  of  the  Children. 

"  Yet  half  a  beast  is  the  great  god  Pan 
To  laugh,  as  he  sits  by  the  river, 
Making  a  poet  out  of  a  man. 
The  true  gods  sigh  for  the  cost  and  the  pain — 
For  the  reed  that  grows  never  more  again 
As  a  reed  with  the  reeds  of  the  river." 

— A  Musical  Instrument. 

"  Dead !  one  of  them  shot  by  the  sea  in  the  east, 
And  one  of  them  shot  in  the  west  by  the  sea. 
Dead !  both  of  my  boys  !    When  you  sit  at  the  feast 
And  are  wanting  a  great  song  for  Italy  free. 
Let  none  look  at  me." 

— Mother  and  Poet. 

The  series  of  love-sonnets,  called  "  From  the  Portuguese,"  and 
written  between  the  declaration  of  Robert  Browning's  love  and  their 
marriage,  reflects  the  varying  phases  of  their  courtship.  No  eye  but 
the  author's  saw  them,  however,  until  after  their  marriage,  when  she 
gave  them  to  him  as  a  gift.  The  title  is  simply  the  substitution  for 
her  own  name  of  the  pet  phrase,  "  My  Little  Portuguese,"  by  which 
he  sometimes  addressed  her  in  allusion  to  her  poem,  "  Catarina  to 
Camoens,"  of  which  he  was  particularly  fond.  In  the  first  sonnet  of 
the  series  she  alludes  to  the  fact  that  her  affection  for  him  had  saved 
her  from  death: 

"  I  thought  how  once  Tlieocritus  had  sung 

Of  the  sweet  years,  the  dear  and  wished-for  years, 

Who  each  one  in  a  gracious  hand  appears 
To  bear  a  gift  for  mortals,  old  or  young. 
And,  as  I  mused  it  in  his  antique  tongue, 

I  saw  in  gradual  vision  through  my  tears 

The  sweet  sad  years,  the  melancholy  years. 
Those  of  my  own  life,  who  by  turns  had  flung 

A  shadow  across  me.     Straightway  I  was  'ware, 
So  weeping,  how  a  mystic  Shape  did  move 

Behind  me,  and  drew  me  backward  by  the  hair; 
And  a  voice  said  in  mastery  while  I  strove : 

'  Guess  now  who  holds  thee?'   '  Death  !'  I  said.     But  there 
The  silver  answer  rang,  '  Not  Death,  but  Love  !  '  " 

In  "  Aurora  Leigh,"  which  Mrs.  Browning  considered  the  maturest 
of  her  works,  she  discussed  with  true  moral  heroism  the  cruelties  and 


5^2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

injustices  in  the  conventional  relations  of  the  sexes.  Though  by  no 
means  an  autobiography,  its  most  interesting  passages  are  probably 
autobiographical.     For  instance: 

■'  The  works  of  women  are  symbolical. 
We  sew,   sew,   prick  our   fingers,   dull  our  sight, 
Producing  what?     A  pair  of  slippers,  sir, 
To  put  on  when  you're  weary — or  a  stool 
To  tumble  over  and  vex  you.     .     .     .     '  Curse  that  stool !  ' 
Or  else  at  best  a  cushion,  where  you  lean 
And  sleep  and  dream  of  something  we  are  not 
Rut  would  be  for  your  sake.     Alas  !    Alas ! 
This  hurts  most,  this     .     .     .     that,  after  all,  we  are  paid 
The  worth  of  our  work,  perhaps." 

"  We  get  no  good 
By  being  ungenerous,  even  to  a  book 
And   calculating  profits     ...     so   much    help 
By  so  much  reading.     It  is  rather  when 
We  gloriously  forget  ourselves  and  plunge 
Soul- forward,  headlong,  into  a  book's  profound, 
Impassioned  for  its  beauty  and  salt  of  truth — 
'Tis  then  we  get  tlie  right  good  from  a  book." 

"  Books,  books,  books  ! 
I  had    found  the  secret  of  a  garret-room, 
Piled  high  with  cases  in  my  father's  name. 
Piled  high,  packed  large — where  creeping  in  and  out 
Among  the  giant  fossils  of  the  past, 
Like  some  small  nimble  mouse  between  the  ribs 
Of  a  mastodon,  I  nibbled  here  and  there 
At  this  or  at  that  box,  pulling  through  the  gap, 
In  heats  of  terror,  haste,  victorious  joy, 
The  first  book  first.     And  how  I  felt  it  beat 
Under  my  pillow  in  the  morning's   dark, 
.An  hour  before  the  sun  would  let  me  read ! 
My  books !     At  last,  because  the  time  was  ripe, 
I  chanced  upon  the  poets." 

'  All  poets  use  the  skies,  the  clouds,  the  fields, 
The  happy  violets  hiding  from  the  roads 
The  primroses  run  down  to  carrying  gold  ; 
The  tangled  hedgerows,  where  the  cows  push  out 
Impatient  horns  and  tolerant  churning  mouths 
'Twixt  dripping  ash-boughs — hedgerows  all  alive 
With  I)irds  and  gnats  and  large  white  butterflies, 
Which  look  as  if  the  May  flower  had  caught  life 
AM  palpitated  forth  upon  the  wind. 
Hills,  vales,  woods,  netted  in  a  silver  mist, 
Farms,  granges,  doubled  up  among  the  hills, 
And  cattle  grazing  in  the  watered  vales, 
And  cottage  chimneys  smoking  from  the  woods, 


ELIZABL'ill  JiARRF/lT  BROWNING  5^3 

And  cottage  gardens  smelling  everywhere, 
Confused  with  smell  of  orcliards.     '  See,'   I  said, 
'  And  see  !  is  God  not  with  us  on  the  earth  ?  ' 
And  ankle-deep  in  luiglisli  grass  I   stood, 
And  clapped  my  hands,  and  called  all  very  fair." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  What  were  "The  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese"? 

2.  Recount  Elizabeth  Barrett's  life  up  to  her  marriage  to  Robert  Browning. 

3.  Do  you  find  in  Robert  Browning's  poetry  the  same  health-giving  fire 

which  his  wife  found  in  her  association  with  him? 

4.  What  was  the  political  cause  in  Italy  in  which  Mrs.  Browning  was  so 

interested?     (Refer  to  Hazen's  "Europe  Since  1815.") 

5.  In  whom  was  the  public  more  interested,  Mrs.  Browning  or  her  hus- 

band? 

6.  What  was  the  subject  of  "Aurora   Leigh"? 

7.  In  what  great  poem  by  Mrs.  Browning  is  the  cruelty  of  the  English 

Industrial  Revolution  presented? 

8.  What  two  other   men  of  letters   whom  you  have  been  studying  were 

affected  by  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  in  England? 

9.  What  English  poets  have  sought  refuge  from  English  opinion  in  Italy? 
10.  How  did  Mrs.  Browning's  horizon  differ  from  Jane  Austen's? 

Suggested  Readings. — "  The  Cry  of  the  Children,"  "  A  Musical  In- 
strument," and  several  of  "  The  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese  "  are  sug- 
gestive of  her  humaneness  and  lyric  power.  "  The  Letters  of  Robert 
Browning  and  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning "  are  intimate  and  charac- 
teristic. 


CHAPTER  XLVII 
GEORGE  ELIOT  (1819-1880) 

"  The  first  of  our  woman  novelists." — /.  Logic  Robertson. 

"  In  some  particulars  '  Silas  Marner '  is  the  most  remarkable  novel  in 
our  language.'' — Sidney  Lanier. 

"  Her  flight  of  Hetty  Sorrel  in  '  Adam  Bede  '  and  Thackeray's  gradual 
breaking  down  of  Colonel  Newcome  are  the  two  most  pathetic  things  in 
modern  prose  fiction." — Tennyson. 

George  Eliot  is  the  name  by  which  Mary  Ann  or  Marian  Evans 
elected  to  be  known  as  an  author  and  which  her  genius  as  a  noveHst 
has  made  as  famous  as  those  of  Scott,  Dickens,  Thackeray,  and  Jane 
Austen. 

The  youngest  daughter  of  the  second  family  of  Robert  Evans,  a 
Wanvickshire  land  agent,  she  was  born  at  Asbury  Farm,  near  Nun- 
eaton, November  22,  1819.  Four  months  later  her  father  removed  to 
the  farm  of  Griff,  with  its  charming  red  brick  ivy-covered  house,  which 
was  her  home  for  twenty-one  years.  Many  of  her  father's  traits  are 
preserved  in  the  character  of  "  Adam  Bede  ";  and  some  of  the  fea- 
tures of  life  at  Griff,  especially  her  relations  with  her  brother  Isaac,  are 
depicted  in  the  story  of  Tom  and  Maggie  Tulliver  in  "  The  Mill  on  the 
Floss."  Between  five  and  nine  she  was  at  school  at  Attleboro  and 
Nuneaton;  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  at  Coventry.  She  lost  her  mother, 
whom  she  loved  devotedly,  in  1836,  and  from  1837  took  entire  charge 
of  her  father's  house.  These  duties  were  not  permitted,  however,  to 
interfere  with  her  education,  as  masters  came  over  from  Coventry 
to  give  her  lessons  in  German,  Italian,  and  music,  of  the  last  of  which 
she  was  always  passionately  fond.  She  also  read  as  few  human  beings 
have  read.  Her  worship  of  Scott  dated  from  her  seventh  year  and 
she  made  the  last  few  years  of  her  father's  life  cheerful  by  reading 
Scott's  novels  aloud  to  him  during  the  evenings. 

In  1841  her  father  removed  to  Coventry.  Here  she  met  new 
friends,  who  upset  her  eariy  religious  training  to  such  an  extent  that 
she  refused  for  a  time  to  go  to  church,  thereby  greatly  offending  her 

521 


GEORGE  ELIOT 


525 


father.  Between  1844  and  1846  she  was  busy  on  a  translation  of 
Strauss's  "  Life  of  Jesus."  Her  father  died  1849.  In  1850  she  began 
to  write  for  the  "  Westminster  Review,"  and  in  1851  became  its 
assistant  editor.  Her  labors  in  this  connection,  a  translation  which 
she  made  of  Feuerbach's  "  Essence  of  Christianity,"  and  the  brilliancy 
of  her  conversation  soon  made  her  the  centre  of  a  literary  circle. 
Two  of  its  members  were  Herbert  Spencer  and  George  Henry  Lewes. 


GEORGE  ELIOT 

1819 — 1880 

The  latter,  born  1817,  was  a  journalist,  critic,  novelist,  dramatist, 
biographer,  essayist,  mathematician,  physicist,  biologist,  psychologist, 
and  philosopher — not  without  brilliancy  and  power.  His  friendship 
with  George  Eliot  ripened  rapidly  into  love.  He  had  been  married 
unhappily,  and  could  not  get  a  divorce;  but  in  1854  he  went  with  Miss 
Evans  to  Germany,  and  thenceforward  until  his  death  in  1878  they 
lived  together  as  man  and  wife.     WTiile  they  were  abroad  he  worked 


.V2(;  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

on  a  ••  Life  of  Goethe."  At  Berlin  she  showed  him  some  attempts  she 
had  been  making  in  the  field  of  fiction;  he  at  once  recognized  their 
merit;  and  in  1856  she  attempted  her  first  story,  "  The  Sad  Fortunes 
of  the  Reverend  Amos  Barton." 

It  came  out  1857  in  "  Blackwood's,"  and  at  once  showed  that  a 
new  writer  of  great  power  had  arisen.  "  Mr.  Gilfil's  Love  Story  "  and 
'•  Janet's  Repentance  "  followed.  All  three  were  reprinted  the  same 
year  as  "  Scenes  from  Clerical  Life,"  "  by  George  Eliot,"  that  pseu- 
donym being  adopted  because  George  was  Mr.  Lewes's  Christian  name 
and  Eliot  was  a  good  mouth-filling  easily-pronounced  name. 

The  brilliant  story  of  "  Adam  Bede  "  followed  1859  and  had  such 
marvelous  success  that  a  Mr.  Liggins,  who  had  lived  in  the  same 
district  as  the  author,  had  the  effrontery  to  claim  the  authorship.  It 
is  indeed  one  of  the  finest  novels  in  the  English  language.  The  hero 
is  a  village  carpenter,  who  is  distinguished  by  tall  stalwartness  and 
a  simple  soul.  The  real  heroine  is  Dinah  Morris,  a  Methodist 
preacher;  but  Adam's  love  is  fixed  on  a  rustic  coquette,  Hetty  Sorrel, 
who  has  the  beauty  and  character  of  a  young  star-browed  calf  that, 
being  inclined  for  a  promenade  out  of  bounds,  leads  you  a  severe 
steeple-chase  over  hedge  and  ditch,  and  only  comes  to  a  stand  in  the 
middle  of  a  bog.  Hetty's  vanity  and  beauty  lead  to  her  ruin.  She 
agrees  to  marry  Adam,  but  finally  goes  away  to  seek  her  former  lover, 
-Arthur  Donnicastle,  and  to  hide  her  shame.  The  account  of  her 
anguish  is  related  with  true  pathos.  Both  she  and  Adam  are  com- 
forted by  Dinah  Morris,  who  eventually  marries  him.  The  vicar  of 
the  parish,  Bartle  Massey  the  bachelor  schoolmaster,  and  Mr.  Poyser 
of  the  Hall  Farm  are  also  well  drawn.  But  Mrs.  Poyser  is  the  gem 
of  the  book,  with  her  proverbial  philosophy,  her  good  sense,  and  her 
amazing  and  amusing  volubility. 

"  The  Mill  on  the  Floss  "  1860  is  largely  autobiographical.  Though 
not  as  rich  in  character  portrayal  as  its  predecessor,  it  is  scarcely  less 
humorous,  powerful,  and  pathetic.  "  Silas  Marner  "  1861  has  two 
merits  that  make  it  stand  out  among  all  of  the  novels  of  the  language. 
With  all  of  George  Eliot's  power  of  drawing  true  pictures  of  life,  it  is 
brief  and  it  is  a  model  of  construction.  Its  plot  is  better,  if  anything, 
than  those  of  the  "  (Edipus  Rex,"  the  "  Alchemist,"  or  "  Tom  Jones." 


GEORGE  ELIOT  527 

Every  student  should  read  it,  if  he  never  reads  anything  else  of  the 
author's. 

"  Silas  Marner  "  was  followed  1863  by  "  Romola,"  a  story  of 
Florence  in  the  days  of  Savonarola.  It  is  highly  finished,  eloquent, 
artistic,  and  by  some  considered  George  Eliot's  best  work.  The  story, 
however,  is  a  depressing  one.  Tito,  the  central  figure,  being  no  hero, 
chooses  to  remain  in  Florence,  enjoy  his  ease,  marry  Romola,  and 
seduce  Tessa,  instead  of  saving  his  father  from  slavery'.  The  fact 
that  he  gets  his  just  deserts  does  not  make  the  story  agreeable,  but 
no  reader  can  deny  its  gloomy  power.  It  appeared  first  in  "  The 
Cornhill  Magazine  "  and  brought  its  author  7000  pounds. 

Between  1866  and  1871  George  Eliot  forsook  fiction  for  poetry. 
"  The  Spanish  Gypsy  "  1868  was  followed  next  year  by  "  Agatha," 
"  The  Legend  of  Jubal  "  and  "  Amgart."  Her  most  familiar  poems 
are,  however,  "  The  Two  Lovers  "  and  "  The  Choir  Invisible."  The 
first  and  the  last  stanzas  of  the  former  are: 

"Two   lovers  by  a   moss-grown   spring: 
They  leaned  soft  cheeks  together  there. 
Mingling  the  dark  and  sunny  hair, 
And  heard  the  wooing  thrushes  sing. 
O  budding  time  ! 
O  love's  best  prime  ! 

"  The  red  light  shone  upon  the  floor 

And  made  the  space  between  them  wide : 
They  drew  their  chairs  up  side  by  side. 
Their  pale  lips  joined,  and  said,  'Once  more!' 
O  memories  ! 
.      O  past  that  is ! 

"  The  Choir  Invisible  "  begins  thus: 

■  "O  may  I  join  the  choir  invisible 

Of  those  immortal  dead  that  live  again 
In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence." 

In  1871-1872  appeared  "  Middlemarch,"  which  by  some  is  re- 
garded as  George  Eliot's  greatest  novel.  It  is  a  study  of  English 
provincial  life.  In  style  and  spirit,  "  Middlemarch  "  recalls  Jane 
Austen's  novels. 

Her  last  novel,  "  Daniel  Deronda  "  was  published   1876.     The 


5^8  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

heroine,  Gwendolen  Harleth,  a  haughty  and  capricious  beauty,  is 
finely  drawn,  and  some  of  its  sketches  of  Jewish  life  and  manners  are 
striking  and  original,  but  as  a  whole  the  book  is  inferior  to  its  prede- 
cessors. Like  "  Adam  Bede,"  "  Silas  Marner,"  "  Romola,"  "  Felix 
Holt,"  and  "  Middlemarch,"  it  is  penetrated  with  the  desire  to  show 
how  selfish  and  desecrating  love  may  be  without  marriage  and  how 
equally  selfish  and  desecrating  marriage  may  be  without  love. 

"  Daniel  Deronda  "  was  George  Eliot's  last  publication,  with  the 
exception  of  "  The  Impressions  of  Theophrastus  Such,"  a  series  of 
miscellaneous  essays,  1879.  She  had  always  been  peculiarly  depen- 
dent on  some  one  person  for  affection  and  support,  and  after  Mr. 
Lewes  died  in  1879  she  fell  into  a  state  of  great  melancholy.  From 
this  she  was  roused  by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  John  Cross,  a  friend  of 
her  own  and  Mr.  Lewes's  since  1869.  To  him  she  was  married 
May  6,  1880.  She  died  December  22  of  the  same  year  and  was 
buried  in  Highgate  Cemetery  near  Mr.  Lewes. 

George  Eliot  was  one  of  the  greatest  novelists  of  the  English 
school.  She  was  greater  than  Richardson,  whose  painstaking  style  of 
portraiture  she  greatly  admired,  because  she  had  a  command  of 
humor  and  pathos  that  he  lacked.  Her  studies  of  English  farmers  and 
tradesmen  give  us  a  clear  idea  of  the  slow-moving,  beef-consuming, 
habit-ridden  population  of  the  Midland  countries  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century.  Sir  Walter  Scott's  borderers  are  not  more  vivid. 
But  she  is  greatly  inferior  to  him  in  imagination,  rapidity,  and  warmth 
of  color.  As  a  historical  novel,  "  Romola  "  is  inferior  even  to  "  Count 
Robert  of  Paris."  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  hardly  an  ineffective 
speech  put  into  the  mouth  of  any  of  her  characters.  To  all  of  her 
squires,  maids,  poachers,  and  innkeepers  she  gives  individual  voices. 
One  other  peculiarity  of  her  method  deserves  notice.  She  makes  her 
characters  grow.  They  do  not  appear  at  first  in  all  their  beauty  or 
deformity.  We  watch  them,  as  it  were,  being  moulded  by  Fate;  and 
she  describes  the  process,  in  spite  of  all  her  faults  as  a  woman  and  a 
writer,  with  such  skill,  such  sympathy,  and  such  insight  that  "  Adam 
Bede,"  "  The  Mill  on  the  Floss  "  and  "  Silas  Marner  "  are  as  sure  of 
lasting  fame  as  "  Ivanhoe,"  "  David  Copperfield,"  "  Henry  Esmond  " 
and  "  Pride  and  Prejudice." 


GEORGE  ELIOT  529 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Give  an  account  of  George  Eliot's  life  up  until  1841. 

2.  What  effect  did  Strauss's  "  Life  of  Jesus  "  probably  have  upon  her  point 

of  view  ? 

3.  Who  was  Herbert  Spencer? 

4.  Write  one  hundred  and  fifty  words  presenting  the  attraction  of  "  Silas 

Marner." 

5.  Where  was  the  scene  of  "  Romola  "  laid? 

6.  Was  George  Eliot  a  realist  or  a  romanticist? 

7.  Is  it  unusual  for  novelists  to  "make  their  characters  grow"? 

8.  Who  was  Maggie  Tulliver? 

9.  Who  was  George  Henry  Lewes  and  what  w^ere  his  relations  with  George 

Eliot  ? 
ID.  In  what  respects  do  you  feel  that  George  Eliot  was  born  before  her 
time? 

Suggested  Readings. — "  Silas  Marner  "  and  "  The  Mill  on  the  Floss  " 
are  the  most  engaging  for  the  beginner.  Oscar  Browning's.  "  Life  of 
George  Eliot  "  will  suit  the  student's  needs. 


84 


CHAPTER  XL VIII 

OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS 

"  A  page  of  Hood  will  do  a  fellow  good 
After  a  scolding  from   Carlyle  or   Ruskin." 

— Holmes. 

•"  Sohral)  and  Rustum  "  and  'Raider  Dead"  are  majestic  poems" — 
E.  C.  Stcdman. 

"  His  '  (Darwin's)  evolution  theory  has  revolutionized  biology  and 
changed  the  whole  intellectual  outlook  of  mankind." — T.  Arthur  Thomson. 

"  Being  asked  at  the  Hustings  upon  what  he  stood.  Lord  Beaconsfield 
replied  magnificently,  '  Upon  my  head.'  " — George  IVhiblcy. 

"  The  dominating  idea  of  modern  thought  is  Evolution.  With  that 
idea  the  name  of  Herbert  Spencer  is  indissolubly  connected." — Hector 
Macphcrson. 

"  Huxley  was  foremost  on  the  fighting  line  of  the  Evolutionist  pha- 
lan,\." — T.  Arthur  Thomson. 

"  S\vinl)urne  is  a  reed  .  .  .  through  which  all  things  blow  into 
music." — Tennyson. 

Thomas  Hood  (1799-1845)  was  bom  with  "  ink  in  his  blood," 
being  descended  from  a  tubercular  literary  family;  lived  a  life  that 
was  one  long  disease;  and  wrote  the  best  poetry  that  appeared  between 
1822,  when  Shelley  died,  and  1842,  when  Tennyson  published  his 
first  successful  volume.  Of  Hood's  serious  poems,  James  Russell 
Lowell  wrote: 

"If  thou  wouldst  learn  how  truly  great  he  was, 
Go,  ask  it  of  the  poor." 

Referring  to  his  comic  verses,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said: 

"  A  page  of  Hood  will  do  a  fellow  good 
.\iter  a  scolding  from  Carlyle  or  Ruskin." 

The  student  who  wishes  to  form  an  opinion  for  himself  of  the  justice 
of  Lowell's  assertion  should  read  "  The  Bridge  of  Sighs,"  "  The 
Deathbed,"  and  "  The  Song  of  the  Shirt."  Holmes's  may  be  tested 
by  "  Faithless  Sally  Brown,"  "  Parental  Ode  to  My  Infant  Son,"  and 
"  Faithless  Nelly  Gray."  Hood's  ability  to  extract  puns  from  the 
English  language  has  probably  not  been  approached  by  any  other 

5'M 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  531 

writer.  In  "  Epping  Hunt,"  one  of  his  humorous  ballads,  he  tells 
of  a  grocer  who  sells  English  butter  in  a  lump  and  Irish  in  a  pat.  He 
informs  his  publisher  that  he  is  gratified  to  learn  that  the  price  has 
had  such  a  run  that  it  is  quite  exhausted.  Of  an  unsuccessful  hunt 
he  says  the  chase  was  a  doe  and  that  therefore  the  hind  part  was 
before.    The  death  from  unrequited  love  of  a  sailor  is  thus  disposed  of: 

"  They  went  and  told  the  sexton, 
And   tlio   sexton   tolled   the   bell." 

Ben  Battle,  when  he  has  lost  his  legs  in  battle,  cries,  "  Here  I  leave 
my  second  leg,  and  the  Forty-second  Foot  ";  and  he  reproaches  his 
fickle  sweetheart  with  the  remark,  "  The  love  that  loves  a  scarlet  coat 
should  be  more  uniform."    Of  a  toper  we  read: 

"  A  single  pint  he  might  have  sipped 
And  not  been  out  of  sorts; 
In  geologic  phrase  the  rock 
He  split  upon  was  quarts." 

"  Full  soon  the  sad  effects  of  this 
His   frame  began  to  show, 
For  that  old  enemy  the  gout 
Had  taken  him  in  toe." 

A  woman  whose  ducklings  had  been  drowned  gave  her  pond  up  and 

despondtd.  The  eels  that  caused  this  crime  were  guilty  of  abrf«ction. 
Yet  Hood  was  a  real  poet.  He  describes  those  same  ducklings  in 
two  lines  that  make  a  perfect  picture: 

"  Small   things   like   living   water-lilies 
But  yellow  as  the  daffodillies." 

He  calls  Death,  "  though  no  Corsican,  the  Boney  of  all  Bonies." 
Friend  of  Charles  Lamb  and  student  of  Keats,  he  was  capable  at  his 
best  of  far  finer  things,  as  these  citations  show: 

•    "  I  remember,  I  remember 

The   fir   trees   dark   and   high ; 
I  used  to  think  their  slender   tops 

Were  close  against  the  sky ; 
It  was  a  childish  ignorance, 

But  now  'tis  little  joy 
To  know  I'm  farther  off  from  heaven 
Than  when   I  was  a  boy." 

— /  Remember. 


53^  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  O  men  with  sisters  dear, 

O  men  with  mothers  and  wives, 
It  is  not  linen  you're  wearing  out. 
But  human  creatures'  hves  !  " 

— The  Song  of  the  Shirt. 

"  Sewing  at  once  a  double  thread, 
A  shroud  as  well  as  a  shirt." 

Ibid. 

"  O  God  1  that  bread  should  be  so  dear 
And  Hcsh  and  blood  so  cheap!" 

Ibid. 

"  Take  her  up  tenderly, 
Lift  her  with  care; 
Fashioned  so  slenderly, 
Young  and  so  fair." 

— The  Bridge  of  Sighs. 

"  Alas   for  the   rarity 
Of  Christian  charity  !  " 

Ibid. 

"  Our  very  hopes  belied  our  fears. 
Our  fears  our  hopes  belied  ; 
We  thought  her  dying  when  she  slept, 
And  sleeping  when  she  died." 

—The  Death  Bed. 

Douglas  Jerrold  (1803-1857)  was  also  a  humorist,  his  most  suc- 
cessful work  being  "  Mrs.  Caudle's  Curtain  Lectures,"  which  in  their 
day  were  as  popular  as  are  the  effusions  of  Mr.  Dunne  and  Mr.  Ade  in 
ours.  Of  a  man  who,  being  away  from  home,  sent  his  family  no' 
money,  a  friend  of  Jerrold's  said  indignantly:  "  Call  that  kindness!  " 
"  Yes,'"  said  the  wit,  "  unremitting  kindness."  When  somebody  said 
of  an  air,  "  That  always  carries  me  away,"  Jerrold  exclaimed,  "  Can 
nobody  whistle  it?  "  Among  his  other  famous  quips  are  these:  "  The 
surest  way  to  hit  a  woman's  heart  is  to  take  aim  kneeling;  "  "  Earth 
is  here  (in  Australia)  so  kind  that  just  tickle  her  with  a  hoe  and  she 
laughs  with  a  harvest;  "  "  Dogmatism  is  the  maturity  of  puppyism." 

Lord  Lytton  (1803-1873)  was  plain  Edward  Bulwer  until  1838, 
Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton  from  1838  until  1866,  and  Baron  Lytton 
from  1866.  He  did  not  acquire  these  titles  through  literature  but 
through  politics.  His  literary  industry  was,  however,  so  prodigious 
as  to  cause  one  to  wonder  how  he  found  time  to  devote  to  anything 
else.  In  all  he  wrote  over  1 10  volumes.  Of  these  three  plays,  "  The 
Lady  of  Lyons  "  1838,  "  Richelieu  "  1838,  and  "  Money  "  1840,  are 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  533 

still  produced  on  the  stage;  and  four  historical  novels  are  and  deserve 
to  be  widely  read — "  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  "  1834,  "  Rienzi  " 
1835,  "  The  Last  of  the  Barons  "  1843,  and  "  Harold  "  1843.  Pos- 
sibly Lytton's  name  will  be  best  remembered  500  years  hence,  how- 
ever, owing  to  the  fact  that,  in  "  The  New  Timon  "  1846,  he  wrote 
thus  of  Tennyson: 

"The  jingling  melody  of  purloined  conceits 
Out-babying  Wordsworth  and  out-glittering  Keats." 

Tennyson  replied  with  some  severe  lines,  in  which  he  called  Lytton 
"  the  padded  man  that  wears  the  stays,"  and  ended: 

"  What   profits    now   to   understand 
The  merits  of  a  spotless  shirt — 
A  dapper  boot — a  little  hand — 
If  half  the  little  soul  is  dirt? 

"  A  Timon  you  !     Nay,  nay,  for  shame ; 
It  looks  too  arrogant  a  jest — 
The  fierce  old  man — to  take  his  name, 
You  bandbox !     Off,  and  let  him  rest." 

John  Henry  Newman  (1801-1890)  in  1824  was  ordained  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England.  In  1834,  while  becalmed  in  an  orange 
boat  in  the  Strait  of  Bonaficio,  he  wrote  "  Lead,  kindly  light."  Be- 
tween 1833  and  1843  he  was  active  in  what  is  called  the  Tractarian 
movement,  from  the  fact  that  its  advocates  sought  through  tracts 
to  assert  the  authority  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  prove  apostolical 
succession  for  the  bishops,  to  advocate  a  stricter  discipline,  and  to 
make  its  doctrine  coincide  with  that  of  Rome.  His  sense  of  logic 
finally  in  1843  forced  him  to  resign  his  vicarage  and  in  1845  to  join 
the  Catholic  Church.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  its  service. 
In  1879  Pope  Leo  XIII  made  him  a  cardinal.  His  writings,  both 
before  and  after  his  conversion,  were  composed  in  a  spirit  and  a  style 
which  cause  them  to  be  regarded  as  masterpieces.  Their  energy,  their 
eloquence,  the  purity  of  their  English,  their  earnestness,  and  the  lofty 
purposes  by  which  Newman  was  animated — make  them  a  noble  and 
enduring  monument  of  his  genius.  The  most  memorable  of  them  are 
a  book  of  poems,  "  Lyra  Apostolica,"  1834;  "  Callista,"  a  story  of  a 
third  century  martyr  in  Africa.  1848;  "  Anglican  Difficulties,"  1850; 
"  Sermons  Addressed  to  Mixed  Congregations."  1849;  "  Sermons  on 


.m 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


Various'  -^'^      '^^"  "ifT" 

religious  ..        -    -  .    I^^i  '^^  GooBtkB 

of  ffeat  beauty.  1865;  and  a  '  Grammar  of  Assart,"  a  treatise  i  the 

philosophy  of  ■    ^ 

i.    -^  .     ^.  ..e  famous  Irish  ballad,  "  Roty  CMorcand 

the  Irish  novd,  "  Hand>-  -\iidy,''  Samod  Lover  (»7- 

1868)  enjoyed  in  his  time  a  popularity  almost  equal  to  ik  of 
Thomas  Moore  and  Charles  Dickens. 

For  a  great  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  Fng!i4iinen,  bower, 
knew  Ireland  chiefly  through  the  no\'els  of  Charles  Le\-er  ( "iC  v 
1872).  The  most  famous  of  these  is  •  Charles  CMallc}',"  UC 
All  of  his  stories,  about  twenty  in  number,  are  characterized  by  jh 
spirits,  careless  fun.  and  love  of  sport.  LeN-er  also  wrote  good  imor- 
ous  verses. 

Winthrop  Mackworth  Praed  ( 1802-1839)  is  the  greatest  wrar  of 
vers  de  societc  that  England  has  yet  produced  His  best  yems 
remind  one  somewhat  of  Thackeray's  "  Ballad  of  Bouillabaise  nd 
are  decidedly  better  than  any  of  Hood's  lighter  pieces.  The  hi.  : 
the  graceful  versification,  and  the  true  pictures  of  '"  The  Var," 
"  Quince."  "  The  Belle  of  the  Ball  Room."  '*  Twenty-eigh  -d 
Twenty-nine,'"  the  "  Song  for  the  Fourteenth  of  Februan-."  ?x 
Fancy  Ball/'  "  A  Letter  of  Ad\nce,"  "  The  Talented  Man/and 
"  School  and  School  Fellows  "  make  them  thoroughly  and  pen- 
nially  attractive.  Some  idea  of  Praed's  quality  may  be  obtned 
from  these  quotations : 

"  And  if  he  had  upon  his  board 
At  once  p  np.iiiTT  nn,'  ^^  ■.>'-d. 
He  call.  er  meat 

And  hat  .,  treat." 

—Cog. 
"With  a  long  dull  journey  .-i''  ^-'■■--'. 
And  a  short  gay  squire  b 

"  Oh !  when  a  cheek  is  to  be  dried. 
All  pharmacy-  is  folly.'" 


—Ibid. 


'  Three  nights  he  supped  upon  drj-  fruit. 
And  slept  upon  wet  grass." 


—Ibid 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  535 

"  He  lay  beside  a  rivulet 

And  looked  beside  himself." 

—  The  Troubadour. 
"  Nothing  is  heard  but  the  long,  long  snore, 
Solemn  and  sad,  of  the  watchmen   four. 
And  the  voice  of  the  rivulet  rippling  by, 
And  the  nightingale's  evening  melody. 
And  the  drowsy  wing  of  the  sleepless  bat, 
And  the  mew  of  the  gardener's  tortoise-shell  cat." 

—Ibid. 
"'T  was  a  sight  to  make  the  hair  uprise 
And  the  life-blood   colder  run  : 
The  startled  priest  struck  both  his  thighs, 
And   the   abbej'-clock   struck   one." 

— The  Red  Fisherman. 

"And  sit  in  revery  luxurious. 
Till  tea  grows  cold  and  aunts  grow  furious." 

— A  Preface. 
"  The  walk  is  laid  down  with  fresh  gravel ; 
Papa  is   laid  up   with  the  gout." 

—Our  Ball. 
"  Where  are  my   friends  ?     I   am  alone  ; 
No  playmate   shares   my   beaker. 
Some  lie  beneath  the  churchyard  stone 
And  some  before  the  Speaker." 

— School  and  Schoohnatcs. 
"  I    remember,    I    remember 
How  my  childhood  flitted  by. 
The   mirth   of   its    December, 
And  the  warmth  of   its  July." 

— Soiifj. 

Charles  Robert  Darwin  was  born  on  the  same  day  as  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  in  the  same  year  as  Alfred  Tennyson,  W.  E.  Gladstone, 
and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  Among  his  ancestors  were  Francis 
Galton,  Josiah  Wedgewood  the  pottery  man,  and  Dr.  Erasmus  Dar- 
win, who  in  1780  had  written: 

"  Soon    shall   thy   arm,    unconquered    stream,    afar 
Drag  the  slow  barge  or  drive  the  rapid  car." 

In  his  school  and  college  days  he  heard  lectures  by  Sir  Walter  Scott 
and  the  American  ornithologist  Audubon;  was  an  enthusiastic  collec- 
tor of  beetles  and  student  of  marine  zoology;  studied  medicine  at 
Edinburgh;  and  took  a  pass  degree  1831  at  Cambridge.  From  1831 
to  1836  he  was  absent  from  England  on  the  "  Beagle,"  a  ship  to  which 
he  was  attached  as  official  scientist.     The  training  which  he  then 


.-jJJO 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


acquired  and  the  actual  contributions  which  he  was  thus  enabled  to 
make  to  biological  knowledge  were  of  enormous  importance.  When 
he  came  home  1836  his  father  cried:  "  Why,  the  shape  of  his  head 
is  quite  altered."  The  shape  of  the  Linnaean  doctrine  of  the  fixity 
of  species  was  also  quite  altered.  It  was  twenty  years,  however, 
before  he  ventured  publicly  to  announce  the  conclusions  at  which  he 


CHARLES  ROBERT   DARWIN 
1809 — 1882 

had  arrived.  On  July  1,  1858,  he  read  before  the  Linnaean  Society 
of  London  a  paper  "  On  the  Tendency  of  Species  to  form  Varieties  and 
Species  by  Natural  Selection."  This  was  the  joint  work  of  Darwin 
and  Alfred  Russell  Wallace.  Its  central  idea  was  that  all  the  forms 
of  life  that  are  now  found  on  the  earth  have  been  evolved  by  a  process 
of  natural  selection  dependent  on  the  survival  of  the  fittest  from  a 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  537 

single  primordial  protoplasmic  globule.  This  conception  was  sub- 
stantiated 1859  in  "  The  Origin  of  Species,"  which  is  not  only  the  most 
important  of  Darwin's  books  but  the  most  influential  work  of  the 
century.  It  revolutionized  not  only  biology  but  also  theology.  In- 
deed it  changed  the  whole  intellectual  outlook  of  mankind.  Its  full 
title  is  "  On  the  Origin  of  Species  by  Means  of  Natural  Selection  or  the 
Preservation  of  Favoured  Races  in  the  Struggle  for  Life."  It  was 
followed  by  a  long  series  of  other  great  scientific  works,  of  which  "  The 
Descent  of  Man  "  1871  is  the  most  famous.  Darwin  died  1882.  His 
passion  and  reverence  for  facts,  his  hatred  of  obscurity  and  wordi- 
ness, his  caution  and  honesty  in  coming  to  conclusions,  his  sense  of 
the  relations  of  things,  his  patient  industry,  and  his  industrious 
patience  enabled  him  to  accumulate,  classify,  and  interpret  a  mass  of 
facts  which  made  his  conclusions  irresistible.  As  a  man  he  was  an 
orderly  worker.  His  chief  amusement  was  the  perusal  of  yellow-back 
novels.  As  a  writer  he  had  so  much  to  say  that  he  cared  little  about 
style.  His  intense  devotion  to  science,  indeed,  caused  him  during 
the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years  of  his  life  to  lose  all  of  his  pleasure 
in  poetry.  A  few  of  his  epoch-making  conclusions  are  embodied  in 
the  following  sentences: 

"  There  is  grandeur  in  this  view  of  life,  with  its  several  powers, 
having  been  originally  breathed  by  the  Creator  into  a  few  forms  or 
into  one;  and  that,  whilst  this  planet  has  gone  cycling  on  according 
to  the  fixed  law  of  gravity,  from  so  simple  a  beginning,  endless  forms 
most  beautiful  and  most  wonderful  have  been,  and  are  being,  evolved." 
— Last  Sentence  in  Origin  of  Species. 

"  This  principle  of  preservation,  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  I 
have  called  Natural  Selection." — Ibid.     Chapter  IV. 

"  In  October  1838  I  read  Malthus  '  On  Population,'  and,  being 
well  prepared  to  appreciate  the  struggle  for  existence  which  every- 
where goes  on,  it  at  once  struck  me  that  under  these  circumstances 
favorable  variations  would  tend  to  be  preserved  and  unfavorable 
ones  to  be  destroyed.  The  result  of  this  would  be  the  formation  of 
new  species.  Here  then  I  had  at  last  got  a  theory  by  which  to  work; 
but  I  was  so  anxious  to  avoid  prejudice  that  I  determined  not  for 
some  time  to  write  even  the  briefest  sketch  of  it.  In  June  1842  I  first 


538  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

allowed  m\sclf  the  satisfaction  of  writing  a  very  brief  abstract  of  my 
theory  in  pencil  in  thirty-five  pages." — Life  and  Letters.     Vol.  I. 

"  Humble  bees  are  almost  indispensable  to  the  fertilization  of  the 
heartsease  (viola  tricolor),  for  other  bees  do  not  visit  this  flower. 
The  visits  of  bees  are  also  necessary  for  the  fertilization  of  some 
kinds  of  clover.  Humble  bees  alone  visit  red  clover,  as  other  bees 
cannot  reach  the  nectar.  Hence  we  may  infer  that,  if  the  whole 
genus  of  humble  bees  became  extinct,  the  heartsease  and  red  clover 
would  disappear.  The  number  of  humble  bees  depends  on  the  num- 
ber of  field  mice,  which  destroy  their  combs  and  nests.  Now  the 
number  of  mice  is  largely  dependent  on  the  number  of  cats.  Hence 
it  is  quite  credible  that  the  presence  of  a  feline  animal  in  large  num- 
bers in  a  district  might  determine,  through  the  intervention  first  of 
mice  and  then  of  bees,  the  frequency  of  certain  flowers  in  that  dis- 
trict."— Origin  of  Species.     Abridged. 

'"  I  have  worked  as  hard  and  as  well  as  I  could,  and  no  man  can 
do  more  than  this." — Life  and  Letters. 

Edward  Fitzgerald  (1809-1883)  in  1859  pulished  a  translation 
of  the  quatrains  of  Omar  Khayyam,  a  Persian  astronomer  poet  of 
the  eleventh  century.  Some  critics  maintain  that  his  version  is 
superior  to  the  Persian.  Swinburne  says  that  Fitzgerald's  genius  gave 
Omar  Khayyam  a  place  forever  among  the  great  English  poets.  One 
thing  is  certain.  Fitzgerald's  version  has  been  and  still  is  read  and 
quoted  by  a  quite  extraordinary  number  of  people  old  and  young, 
especially  young.  Its  philosophy  is  simply  an  amplification  of  the 
old  saw,  "  Manduccmus  et  bibamus,  nam  eras  moriemur." 

George  Henry  Borrow  (1803-1881)  first  became  known  1843  by 
"  The  Bible  in  Spain."  His  two  greatest  books  are  "  Lavengro  "  and 
"  The  Romany  Rye."  In  these  he  describes  his  own  wanderings  and 
life  among  the  gypsies.  He  was  as  sentimental  as  Sterne;  had  a  pas- 
sionate love  for  the  meadows,  trees,  and  roads  of  England;  over  six 
feet  in  height,  was  a  perfect  type  of  manly  beauty;  and  became,  by 
assiduous  practice,  a  by-no-means-despised  master  of  the  noble  art  of 
pugilism.  These  qualifications  made  him  an  ideal  tramp  and  enabled 
him  to  produce  a  noble  picture  of  England  in  the  days  before  the  rail- 
ways had  cut  it  into  iron-bordered  lozenges  and  squares.    Possibly  the 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  539 

most  famous  passage  in  his  writings  is  his  account  of  a  fight  between 
himself  and  a  notorious  wandering  blackguard  named  Jack  Slingsby. 

Benjamin  DisraeH,  Lord  Beaconsfield  (1804-1881),  was  a  full- 
blooded  Jew;  but,  in  spite  of  that  handicap,  he  made  himself  by 
sheer  force  of  intellect  prime  minister  of  England.  In  literature  he 
has  the  distinction  of  having  written  three  political  novels  that  per- 
haps have  never  been  surpassed.  These  are  "  Coningsby  "  1844, 
"  Sybil  "  1845,  and  "  Tancred  "  1847.  As  a  master  of  epigram  he 
surpassed  Dickens  and  Thackeray.  Among  the  hundreds  of  memor- 
able sayings  that  he  produced  are  these: 

"  A  precedent  embalms  a  principle." — Speech,  1848. 

"  Assassination  has  never  changed  the  history  of  the  world." — 
Speech,  May,  1865. 

"  Youth  is  a  blunder;  manhood,  a  struggle;  old  age,  a  regret." — 
Coningsby. 

"  To  be  conscious  that  you  are  ignorant  is  a  great  step  to  knowl- 
edge."— Sybil. 

"  He  had  only  one  idea,  and  that  was  wrong." — Ibid. 

"  When  a  man  fell  into  his  anecdotage,  it  was  a  sign  for  him  to 
retire." — Lothair. 

"  The  Athanasian  Creed  is  the  most  splendid  ecclesiastical  lyric 
ever  poured  forth  by  the  genius  of  man." — Endymion. 

"  '  Sensible  men  are  all  of  the  same  religion.'  *  Pray,  what  is 
that?  '     '  Sensible  men  never  tell.'  " — Ibid. 

Samuel  Smiles  (1813-1904)  was  the  author  of  several  books  that 
are  extremely  useful  to  young  people.  The  best  of  these  are  "  Self- 
Help"  1859,  "Character"  1871,  and  "Thrift"  1875.  Himself  a 
railway  secretary,  he  also  wrote  lives  of  men  notable  in  the  history 
of  invention  and  industry,  among  these  being  Stephenson,  Watt, 
Nasmyth,  and  Wedgewood. 

Mark  Pattison  (1813-1884)  wrote  the  admirable  life  of  Milton 
in  the  English  Men  of  Letters  series. 

Charles  Reade  (1814-1884)  was  the  author  of  several  unpopular 
plays  and  popular  novels;  among  the  latter  the  best  known  are  "  It  is 
Never  too  Late  to  Mend  "  1856,  "  The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth  " 
1861,  "  Hard  Cash  "  1863,  and  "  Put  Yourself  in  His  Place  "  1870. 


540  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Sir  William  Besant  ranks  him  with  Scott,  Dickens,  and  Thackeray; 
Swinburne  calls  him  a  truly  great  writer  of  a  truly  noble  genius. 

Anthony  Trollope  (1815-1882)  was  the  author  of  about  fifty 
novels.  The  best  of  these  perhaps  is  "  Barchester  Towers"  1857, 
which  is  distinguished  by  a  new  type  of  character  drawing  in  the 
formidable  Mrs.  Proudie.  In  summing  up  one  of  his  own  books, 
Trollope  describes  all  of  them  fairly  well:  "  The  story  was  thoroughly 
English.  There  was  a  little  fox-hunting  and  a  little  tuft-hunting,  some 
ChrisUan  virtue  and  some  Christian  cant.  There  was  no  heroism  and 
no  villany.  There  was  much  Church  but  more  love-making.  And  it 
was  downright  honest  love." 

James  Anthony  Froude  (1812-1894)  was  a  historian  with  an 
English  style  almost  as  clear,  brilliant,  and  pure  as  Macaulay's,  and 
ideals  differing  in  no  fundamental  respect  from  those  of  Carlyle. 
In  consequence  he  succeeded  in  writing  a  number  of  fascinating  books 
which  he  called  histories.  Of  these,  the  best  and  biggest  is  his  "  His- 
tory of  England  from  the  Fall  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  to  the  Spanish 
Armada,"  "  Czesar,  A  Sketch,"  1879,  Froude  regarded  as  his  best 
book.  This  and  "  Elizabethan  Seamen  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  " 
1895  have  entertained  many  boys.  Along  with  Carlyle  he  distrusted 
the  common  people,  regarded  force  as  the  real  manifestation  of  moral 
value,  thought  modem  civilization  a  snare  and  a  delusion,  and  believed 
in  heroes  and  hero  worship.  As  Carlyle's  most  intimate  friend  and 
literary  executor  he  produced  a  biography  that  ought  to  have  been 
as  good  as  Boswell's  "  Johnson  "  but  is  instead  a  mournful  contrast 
to  Trevelyan's  magnificent  life  of  Carlyle's  great  rival,  Macaulay. 

Philip  James  Bailey  (1816-1902)  at  twenty  wrote  a  long  philo- 
sophical poem  called  "  Festus,"  of  which  twelve  editions  have  so  far 
af)peared  in  England  and  over  thirty  in  America.  It  contains  four, 
good  lines: 

"  We  live  in  deeds,  not  years ;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths ; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs.     He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best." 

The  Reverend  Charles  Kingsley  (1819-1875)  was  the  author  of 
three  poems  that  ever>'body  knows:  "  The  Sands  of  Dee,"  "  Three 
Fishers,"  and  "  Young  and  Old."    He  also  wrote  three  great  historical 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  541 

novels:  "  Hypatia  "  1853,  a  picture  of  the  conflict  between  Christian- 
ity and  paganism  in  Alexandria  in  the  fifth  century;  "  Westward 
Ho,"  1855,  a  tale  of  English  daring  in  the  Spanish  Main  during 
Queen  Elizabeth's  day;  and  "  Hereward  the  Wake,"  1866,  which 
deals  with  the  Norman  Conquest. 

John  Tyndall  (1820-1893)  wrote  admirably  in  an  agreeable  and 
popular  style  on  "  The  Glaciers  of  the  Alps  "  1860,  "  Mountaineer- 


MATTHEW  ARNOLD 

1822— 1888 

From  the  portrait  by  G.  F.  Watts 

ing  "  1861,  "  Heat  as  a  Mode  of  Motion  "  1863,  "  Radiation  "  1865, 
"Fragments  of  Science"  1871,  and  ''New  Fragments"  1892.  Of 
all  his  works  perhaps  the  most  entertaining  is  his  "  Hours  of  Exercise 
in  the  Alps."  which  deals  with  the  most  strenuous  of  all  sports,  moun- 
tain-climbing. This  and  his  "  Fragments  "  are  sure  to  interest  boys. 
As  an  interpreter  of  Darwin,  Tyndall  performed  valuable  services 
for  mankind. 

Matthew  Arnold  (1822-1888)  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold, 
the  famous  master  of  Rugby,  who  lives  for  us  in  "  Tom  Brown's 


-,4.2  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

School  Days."  After  graduation  from  Rugby  1840  and  Oxford  1844, 
Arnold  became  an  inspector  of  schools,  which  was  good  for  the  schools 
but  injurious  to  his  quality  as  a  poet.  Between  1852  and  1866,  how- 
ever, he  succeeded  in  producing  several  pieces  of  verse  which  will 
probably  live.    Among  these  are:   (1)  a  fine  sonnet  to  Shakespeare, 

beginning 

•'  Others  abide  our  question.  Thou  art  free. 
We  ask  and  ask.  Thou  smilest  and  art  still, 
Outtopping  knowledge." 

(2)  "  Rugby  Chapel,"  a  noble  characterization  of  the  poet's  father, 

of  whom  he  says, 

"  O  strong  soul,  by  what  shore 
Tarriest  thou  now?     For  that  force, 
Surely  hast  not  been  left  vain  ! 
Somewhere,   surely,   afar. 
In  the  sounding  labour-house  vast 
Of  being,  is  practised  that  strength, 
Zealous,  beneficent,  firm  !  " 

(3)  "Memorial  Verses"  occasioned  1850  by  the  death  of  Words- 
worth; (4)  "  Geist's  Grave,"  a  tribute  to  the  author's  deceased 
dachshund;  (5)  "  Sohrab  and  Rustum,"  an  epic  poem  of  thirty-six 
pages  of  blank  verse,  in  which  it  is  related  with  dignity  and  pathos 
how  Rustum  in  a  duel  slew  his  son  Sohrab  under  the  impression  that 
he  was  fighting  an  alien  and  an  enemy;  and  (6)  "  Dover  Beach," 
which  for  significance  and  beauty  is  perhaps  the  finest  of  his  poems. 
After  1857  Arnold's  most  important  writing  was  in  prose.  From  1857 
to  1867  he  was  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford,  and  as  such  wrote  four 
lectures  "  On  Translating  Homer."  In  these  he  tried  to  prove  that  a 
translation,  in  order  to  be  successful,  must  be  acceptable  to  scholars, 
and  made  such  slighting  comments  on  Chapman,  Pope,  and  Cowper 
that  Augustine  Burrell  wrote:  "  If  Pope  had  lived  in  our  day,  instead 
of  translating  Homer,  he  would  have  written  essays  on  how  not  to  do 
it."  In  1869  Arnold  published  "Essays  in  Criticism,"  a  volume  which 
had  a  wide  and  useful  influence,  and  "  Culture  and  Anarchy,"  a  plea 
for  education  as  the  best  way  out  of  the  world's  difficulties.  Among  his 
other  publications  were  "  Mixed  Essays  "  1879,  "  Irish  Essays  "  1882, 
and  a  second  s?ries  of  "  Essays  in  Criticism  "  1888.  He  visited 
America  1883-1884. 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  543 

Thomas  Hughes  (1823-1896)  in  1856  published  "  Tom  Brown's 
School  Days,"  a  story  of  boy  life  at  Rugby  under  Dr.  Arnold.  Based 
mainly  on  his  own  experiences,  it  still  retains  the  popularity  which  it 
instantly  won  and  deserves  as  the  best  literary  picture  of  English 
public  school  life. 

The  name  of  Herbert  Spencer  (1820-1903)  is  indissolubly  con- 


HERBERT  SPENCER 
1820 — igo3 

nected  with  the  idea  of  evolution.  In  "  Social  Statics  "  1850  he  sought 
to  show  that  society  is  an  organism  whose  evolution  is  determined  by 
laws.  As  low  types  of  animals  are  composed  of  many  parts  not 
mutually  dependent,  while  high  types  are  composed  of  interdependent 
parts,  so  of  high  and  low  types  of  society.  In  "  First  Principles  "  1862 
he  applied  this  conception  to  the  entire  universe.  As  a  thinker  his 
influence  has  been  world-wide. 


r.i  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

Alfred  Russell  Wallace  (1823-1913)  shares  with  Charles  Darwin 
the  honor  of  establishing  on  a  scientific  basis  the  theory  of  evolution. 
His  "  Contributions  to  the  Theory  of  Natural  Selection  "  1871  has 
had  an  influence  second  only  to  that  of  "  The  Origin  of  Species." 

Thomas  Huxley  (1825-1895)  as  a  scientist  occupies  a  place  side 
by  side  with  Darwin.  His  style  is  lucid,  accurate,  and  forceful. 
His  most  important  writings  are  contained  in  "  Collected  Essays," 
edited  by  himself  in  nine  volumes  1893-1895,  and  in  "  Scientific 
Memoirs,"  edited  by  Sir  Michael  Foster  and  Professor  Ray  Lankester 
1898-1903. 

William  Wilkie  Collins  (1834-1880)  was  a  close  friend  of  Charles 
Dickens  and  the  author  of  about  twenty-five  novels.  His  most  suc- 
cessful works  were  "  The  Woman  in  White  "  1860  and  "  The  Moon- 
stone "  1868.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  strongest  detective  stories  in 
literature. 

Edward  Augustus  Freeman  (1823-1892)  published  "The  History 
of  the  Norman  Conquest  "  1867-1879  in  six  volumes.  Though  dis- 
figured by  his  combativeness,  this  work  is  the  most  important  that 
has  yet  been  published  on  this  period. 

William  Stubbs  (1825-1901)  is  the  author  of  a  "  Constitutional 
History  of  England  "  in  three  volumes,  which  appeared  1874-1878. 
It  is  so  cautious  and  is  based  on  such  careful  study  that  it  is  accepted 
as  the  standard  authority  on  this  subject. 

Henry  Morley  (1822-1894)  is  best  known  by  his  "English 
Writers,"  a  history  of  English  literature  from  the  beginning  to  Shake- 
speare in  ten  volumes  1864-1894,  and  "  A  First  Sketch  of  English 
Literature  "  1873. 

The  fame  of  David  Masson  (1822-1907)  rests  chiefly  on  his  "  Life 
of  John  Milton,"  which  appeared  1859-1880,  fills  six  volumes,  and  is 
a  noble  monument  to  the  poet. 

Charles  Lutwidge  Dodgson  (1833-1898),  under  the  name  of  Lewis 
Carroll,  wrote  "  Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland  "  1865,  a  book 
which  endears  him  to  all  English-speaking  children. 

Sir  Walter  Besant  (1836-1901),  at  first  in  collaboration  with 
James  Rice  (1844-1882)  and  afterward  alone,  produced  about  twenty 
novels.    Of  these  "  All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men  "  1882  is  the  best. 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  545 

John  Richard  Green  (1837-1883)  in  1874  published  "A  Short 
History  of  the  English  People."  In  vividness  of  narration  and  pic- 
turesqueness  of  style  this  work  surpasses  even  Macaulay's  first  two 
volumes,  and  it  immediately  attained  a  popularity  equal  to  theirs. 
His  purpose  and  style  are  both  shown  in  this  extract  from  his  preface: 

"  The  aim  of  the  following  work  is  defined  by  its  title  ;  it  is  a  history, 
not  of  English  Kings  or  English  Conquests,  but  of  the  English  People. 
At  the'  fisk  of  sacrificing  much  that  was  interesting  and  attractive  in 
itself  and  which  the  constant  usage  of  our  historians  has  made  familiar 
to  English  readers,  I  have  preferred  to  pass  lightly  and  briefly  over  the 
details  of  foreign  wars  and  diplomacies,  the  personal  adventures  of  kings 
and  nobles,  the  pomp  of  courts,  or  the  intrigues  of  favorites,  and  to  dwell 
at  length  on  the  incidents  of  that  constitutional,  intellectual,  and  social 
advance  in  which  we  read  the  history  of  the  nation  itself.  It  was  with  this 
purpose  that  I  have  devoted  more  space  to  Chaucer  than  to  Cressy,  to 
Caxton  than  the  petty  strife  of  Yorkist  and  Lancastrian,  to  the  Poor  Law 
of  Elizabeth  than  to  her  victory  at  Cadiz,  to  the  Methodist  revival  than  to 
the  escape  of  the  young  Pretender.  Whatever  the  worth  of  the  present 
work  may  be,  I  have  striven  throughout  that  it  should  never  sink  into 
a  '  drum  and  trumpet  history.'  " 

In  1878-1880  he  pubUshed  in  four  volumes  his  "  History  of  the 
English  People,"  in  which  he  had  expanded  the  "  Short  History." 
The  latter,  however,  remains  his  best  achievement  and  indeed  the  best 
of  all  accounts  of  English  history. 

George  Meredith  (1828-1909)  is  one  of  the  great  novelists  of  the 
day.  "  He  is  the  master  of  all  of  us,"  said  Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 
His  style,  however,  cannot  readily  be  appreciated  even  by  adults, 
and  the  range  of  his  ideas  is  so  extensive  and  subtle  that  most  of  his 
books  are  incomprehensible  by  adolescents.  Among  his  novels  are 
"  The  Shaving  of  Shagpat  "  1856,  "  The  Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel  " 
1859,  "  Rhoda  Fleming  "  1865,  "  The  Egoist  "  1879,  "  Diana  of  the 
Crossways  "  1885,  and  "  The  Amazing  Marriage  "  1895. 

John  Morley  (1838-  )  is  better  known  as  a  statesman  than 
as  a  man  of  letters,  but  his  "  Life  of  Gladstone  "  (3  vols.,  1903)  is  a 
literary  masterpiece. 

Richard  Doddridge  Blackmore  (1825-1900)  published  about  a 
dozen  novels,  but  is  remembered  chiefly  by  his  masterpiece,  "  Lorna 
Doone,"  1869,  which  passed  through  forty  editions  before  his  death. 
Its  plot  is  good;  its  style  has  a  pleasing  flavor  of  its  age,  that  of 

35 


-4(5  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

James  II;  it  is  saturated  with  the  joy  of  open  air  and  adventure;  and 
lohn  Ridd,  its  hero,  is  imperishable.  The  book,  in  short,  should  be 
read  by  ever\-body.  It  has  become  the  standard  guide-book  to  Devon- 
shire, and,  as  somebody  has  said,  is  as  good  as  Devonshire  cream. 

William  Black  (1841-1898)  was  a  copious  novelist.     "A  Prin- 
cess of  Thule"  1873,  with  its  pictures  of  Hebridean  sunsets  and 


DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI 


From  a  drawing  by  himself 


scenery',  its  quaint  Gaelic  English,  and  its  exquisite  heroine  is  prob- 
ably his  best  book.  To  the  student  of  literature  "  Judith  Shake- 
speare "  1884,  inasmuch  as  it  has  Shakespeare  himself  as  one  of  the 
characters,  is  apt  to  be  more  interesting. 

Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  (1828-1882),  along  with  William  Holman 
Hunt  and  John  Everett  Millais,  about  1850  founded  what  is  known 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  547 

as  the  Pre-Raphaelite  Brotherhood,  their  intention  being  to  restore 
to  painting  some  of  the  religious  intensity  of  the  early  Italian  artists. 
This  purpose,  however,  found  a  finer  and  truer  expression  in  Rossetti's 
poetry  than  in  his  pictures.  His  life  indeed  may  be  said  to  have  been 
devoted  equally  to  painting  and  poetry.  In  1870  he  published  a 
volume  called  "  Poems  ";  in  1874  "  Dante  and  His  Circle,"  a  book  of 
translations  remarkable  for  their  fidelity  to  the  original;  and  in  1881 
"  Ballads  and  Sonnets."  These  volumes  contain  much  imaginative 
writing  of  a  high  order.     For  example: 

"  From  perfect  grief  there  need  not  be 
Wisdom  or  even  memory  : 
One  thing  then  learnt  remains  to  me, — 
The  woodspurge  has  a  cup  of  three. 

"  Our  mother  rose  from  where  she  sat : 
Her  needles,  as  she  laid  them  down, 
Met  lightly,  and  her  silken  gown 
Settled;   no  other  noise   than   that." 

"From  the  fixed  place  of  Heaven  she  saw 
Time  like  a  pulse  shake  fierce 
Through  all  the  worlds." 

WiUiam  Morris  (1834-1896)  was,  like  Rossetti,  a  Pre-Raphaelite, 
and  like  him  did  not  confine  his  efforts  to  literature.  As  a  political 
reformer  he  did  much  to  further  the  comfort  and  secure  the  rights 
of  workingmen;  as  an  artist  he  exercised  a  large  influence  upon  the 
decoration  of  houses;  his  work  as  a  designer  of  furniture,  most  familiar 
in  America  through  the  Morris-chair,  was  beneficent ;  and  as  a  printer 
he  restored  to  British  and  American  typography  some  of  the  distinc- 
tion which  characterized  the  work  of  the  earliest  and  best  days  of  the 
art.  His  most  famous  poem  is  "  The  Earthly  Paradise,"  a  collection 
of  pieces  in  which  twelve  classic  legends  are  alternated  with  twelve 
mediaeval  tales,  the  whole  being  bound  together  by  an  introduction 
and  a  series  of  little  masterpieces  called  "  Poems  of  the  Months." 
Equally  fine  is  his  epic  "  Sigurd  the  Volsung."  He  also  produced 
translations  of  "The  ^neid,"  "  The  Odyssey,"  and  "  Beowulf."  In 
prose  he  wrote  extensively,  his  work  including  controversy,  trans- 
lations, and  romance. 

Algernon  Charles  Swinburne  (1837-1909)  was  descended  from  an 
admiral  and  an  earl,  passed  his  youth  in  splendor  on  the  Isle  of 


548  ENGLISH  LITERATUHE 

Wight  was  at  Eton  from  twelve  to  seventeen,  and  spent  his  years 
1856-i860  at  Oxford.  In  the  latter  year  he  published  "  The  Queen 
Mother"  and  "  Rosamond,"  two  plays  on  the  Shakespearean  model. 


ALGERNON   CHARLES  SWINBURNE 
1837 — 1909 


In  1861  he  visited  Italy,  where  the  most  important  sight  he  saw  was 
Walter  Savage  Landor.  Four  years  later  the  publication  of  "  Atalanta 
in  Calydon,"  a  tragedy  of  great  power  and  beauty  written  on  the 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WRITERS  54<) 

Greek  model,  placed  him  in  the  foremost  files  of  fame.  "  Chastelard," 
the  first  of  three  plays  dealing  with  Mary  Stuart,  appeared  1866,  and 
in  the  same  year  "  Poems  and  Ballads  "  made  half  London  howl  and 
all  London  read.  Some  of  the  verses  in  this  volume  vie  with  Shelley's 
in  the  way  they  sing  themselves.  One  critic  calls  them  fairy  cobwebs 
of  song  spun  out  of  rainbow  film  and  moonshot  mist.  At  all  events, 
they  won  for  him  the  ear  of  the  world  and  the  intimate  friendship  of 
Rossetti, Morris,  Meredith,  Burne- Jones,  Whistler,  and  Watts  Dunton. 
Meanwhile  the  Italians  were  fighting  for  freedom  and  Swinburne's 
passion  for  liberty  led  him  to  write  in  their  behalf  "  A  Song  of  Italy  " 
1870  and  "  Songs  before  Sunrise  "  1877.  The  latter  has  been  called  a 
terrible  hymnal  of  revolution.  "  Bothwell  "  1874  and  "  Mary  Stuart  " 
1881  completed  his  great  Stuart  trilogy.  In  "  Erectheus  "  1876  he 
once  more  essayed  to  write  a  tragedy  on  Greek  models  and  succeeded 
in  producing  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  of  his  poems.  In  1879  he 
settled  at  The  Pines,  Putney  Hill,  in  order  to  be  with  Theodore  Watts 
Dunton,  and  here  the  two  dwelt  for  thirty  years  in  perfect  amity. 
Their  favorite  pastimes  came  to  be  walking  and  swimming.  His  next 
poem,  by  some  thought  to  be  his  best,  was  "  Tristram  of  Lyonesse  " 
1882,  which  he  thus  inscribed:  "  To  my  best  friend,  Theodore  Watts,  I 
dedicate  in  this  book  the  best  I  have  to  give  him."  In  addition  to 
the  works  already  mentioned  Swinburne  published  ten  volumes  of 
verse  and  four  plays,  "■  Marino  Faliero  "  1885,  "  Locrine  "  1887, 
"  The  Sisters  "  1892,  and  "  Rosamund,  Queen  of  the  Lombards  " 
1899.  His  prose  works  are  also  voluminous.  They  deal  mostly  with 
themes  of  literary  criticism.  Somebody  says  they  are  all  air  and  fire, 
passionately  kind  and  angry,  utterly  poetical,  and  of  incalculable 
value  as  interpretations  of  poetry.  Indeed,  as  Tennyson  said,  Swin- 
burne was  a  reed  through  which  all  things  blew  into  poetry.  Though 
he  lacked  the  conciseness,  the  directness,  and  the  brevity  that  charac- 
terize the  greatest  artists,  he  has  left  a  mass  of  great  verse.  His  place 
among  the  masters  of  English  song  is  secure.  How  secure  it  is  may 
be  faintly  guessed  from  a  few  of  his  lines  and  stanzas: 

"  Where  tides  of  grass  break  into  foam  of  flowers." 

— Latis  I'eneris. 
"  The  wind's  wet  wings  and  fingers  drip  with  rain." 

--Ibid. 


J50  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

'•  Earth   is  not  spoilt   for  a  single  shower, 

But  the  rain  had  ruined  the  ungrown  corn. 

—The  Triumph  of  Time. 

"If  love  were  what  the  rose  is, 
And  I  were  like  the  leaf. 
Our  lives  would  grow  together 
In   sad   or    singing   weather. 
Blown  fields,  or  flower ful  closes, 
Green  pleasure  or  gray  grief; 
If  love  were  what  the  rose  is 
And  I  were  like  the  leaf." 

— A   Match. 

"  In  the  teeth  of  the  hard  glad  weather. 
In  the  blown  wet  face  of  the  sea." 

—A  Song  in  Time  of  Order.     1852. 

"  No  thorns  go  so  deep  as  a  rose's." 

— Dolores. 

"  And  a  bird  overhead  sang  Follow, 
And  a  bird  to  the  right  sang  Here; 
And  the  arch  of  the  leaves  was  hollow. 
And  the  meaning  of  May  was  clear." 

— An  Interlude. 

"  When  the  hounds  of  Spring  are  on  winter's  traces, 
The  mother  of  months  in  meadow  or  plain 
Fills  the   shadows  and   windy  places 

With  lisp  of  leaves  and  ripple  of  rain ; 
And  the  brown  bright  nightingale  amorous 
Is  half  assuaged  for  Itylus, 
For  the  ITiracian  ships  and  the  foreign  faces, 
The  tongueless  vigil  and  all  the  pain." 

— Atalanta  in  Calydon. 

"  Before  the  beginning  of  years 

There  came  to  the  making  of  man 
Time,  with  a  gift  of  tears. 

Grief,  with  a  glass  that  ran; 
Pleasure  with  pain  for  leaven ; 

Summer  with  flowers  that  fell ; 
Remcmlirance  fallen  from  heaven. 

And  madness  risen  from  Hell ; 
Strength  without  hands  to  smite ; 

Love  that  endures  for  a  breath  ; 
Night,  the  shadow  of  light; 

And  life,  the  shadow  of  death. 

—Ibid. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  Who  wrote  the  best  English  poetry  between  the  death  of  Shelley  and 

the  publication  of  Tennyson's  first  work? 

2.  Who  wrote  "  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  "  ? 

3.  What   was  known  as  the  Tractarian   Movement? 

4.  Name  three  of  the  best  English  writers  of  light  verse. 


OTHER  VICTORIAN  WTIITERS  551 

5.  What    was    the    significance    of    the    puljlication    of    "  The    Origin    of 

Species  "? 

6.  Upon  what  rests  the  fame  of  the  author  of  "  Coningsby  "  ? 

7.  Name  one  great  book  by  Charles  Reade,  one  by  Anthony  Trollope,  and 

one  by  Charles  Kingsley. 

8.  What  is  the  thesis  of  "Culture  and  Anarchy"? 

9.  Who  wrote  "Diana  of  the  Crossways."  "  Lorna  Doone,"  "  The  Earthly 

Paradise,"  and  "  Atalanta  in  Calydon"? 
10.  What  are  the  qualities  of   Swinburne's  verse? 

Suggested  Readings. — The  student  should  make  every  effort  to  read 

the  following :  Thomas  Hoods  "  The  Bridge  of  Sighs  "  and  "  The  Death 
Bed " ;  Lord  Lj'tton's  "  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii " ;  Charles  Lever's 
"  Charles  OMalley  "' ;  Charles  Darwin's  "  Origin  of  Species  "  ;  George 
Henry  Borrow's  "  The  Bible  in  Spain  "  ;  Charles  Reade's  "  The  Cloister 
and  the  Hearth  " ;  Anthony  Trollope's  "  Barchester  Towers  " :  Charles 
Kingsley's  "Westward  Ho!";  Matthew  Arnold's "  Culture  and  Anarchy," 
"  Rugby  Chapel,"  "  Sohrab  and  Rustum " ;  Thomas  Hughes's  "  Tom 
Brown's  School  Days  "  ;  George  Meredith's  "  Diana  of  the  Crossways  "  ; 
Richard  Blackmore's  "  Lorna  Doone  "  •  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti's  "  The 
Blessed  Damozel " ;  Algernon  Charles   Swinburne's  "  Bothwell." 


CHAPTER  XLIX 
RECENT  WRITERS 

"They,  the  heirs  of  all  the  ages,  in  the  foremost  files  of  time." 

— Tennyson. 

Sir  George  Otto  Trevelyan,  the  nephew  of  Lord  Macaulay, 
was  born  1838.  In  1876  he  published  "  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Lord 
Macaulay,"  which  is  the  most  readable  book  of  its  kind  in  English 
literature.  "  The  Early  History  of  Charles  James  Fox,"  1880,  and 
its  continuation,  "  The  American  Revolution,"  1899-1915,  are  almost 
equally  entertaining.  The  latter  is  also  of  particular  interest  to 
Americans  because  it  shows  the  point  of  view  of  an  Englishmian  who 
appreciates  Washington,  Adams,  and  Franklin  no  less  than  Burgoyne 
and  Cornwallis,  Fox,  Lord  North,  and  George  III.  Its  motto,  taken 
from  Tennyson's  "  England  and  America  in  1782,"  is  an  index  to  the 
spirit  in  which  it  is  written: 

"  Strong  mother  of  a  lion  line, 
Be  proud  of  those  strong  sons  of  thine 
Who  wrench'd  their  rights  from  thee !  " 

James  Bryce  (1838-  )  is  the  author  of  the  standard  work  on 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  his  "  American  Commonwealth," 
1888,  being  distinguished  by  sound  scholarship,  a  luminous  style,  and 
a  keen  appreciation  of  our  institutions. 

Austin  Dobson  (1840-  )  is  an  accomplished  critic  of  French 
and  eighteenth  century  literature  and  a  charming  poet.  His  chief 
volumes  are  "  Vignettes  in  Rhyme  and  Vers  de  Societe  "  1873,  "  Prov- 
erbs in  Porcelain"  1877,  "Old  World  Idylls"  1883,  and  "At  the 
Sign  of  the  Lyre  "  1885.  Perfection  of  technique,  freshness,  spon- 
taneity, humor,  pathos,  and  satire — all  are  to  be  found  in  these 
volumes.  As  Surrey  imported  the  sonnet  into  our  literature  from 
Italy,  Dobson  introduced  from  France  the  rondel,  the  rondeau,  the 
ballade,  the  triolet,  the  chant  royale,  and  the  villanelle,  all  of  which 
he  uses  with  skill.  The  following  rondeau  will  give  some  idea,  per- 
haps, of  the  delicacy  of  his  art; 

55i 


RECENT  WRITERS  553 

I 

"  You  bid  me  try,  blue  eyes,  to  write 
A    Rondeau.     What! — forthwith? — to-night? 
Reflect.     Some   skill   1   have,    "tis   true ; 
But  thirteen  lines  ! — and  rhymed  on  two ! 

"  Refrain,"  as  well.     Ah,  hapless  plight ! 
Still,  there  are  five  lines, — ranged  aright. 
These  Gallic  bonds,  I   feared,  would  fright 
My  easy  Muse.     They  did,  till  you — 
You  bid  me  try  ! 
That  makes  them  eight.     The  port's  in  sight ; — 
'Tis  all  because  your  eyes  are  bright ! 
Now  just  a  pair  to  end  in  '  oo,' — 
When  maids  command,  what  can't  we  do ! 
Behold! — the  Rondeau,  tasteful,  light. 
You  bid  me  try !  " 

Try  Dobson's  volumes;  they  are  well  worth  trying. 

Andrew  Lang  (1844-1914)  is  poetically  a  brother  of  Dobson.  His 
chief  books  of  verse  are  "  Ballades  and  Lyrics  of  Old  France  "  1872, 
"  Ballades  in  Blue  China  "  1880,  "  Rhymes  a  la  Mode  "  1884,  and 
"  Ballades  of  Books  "  1888.  He  also  wrote  extensively  and  well  in 
prose  of  myths  and  books,  published  one  or  two  novels,  edited  a 
beautiful  edition  of  Burns,  and  won  the  honor  of  being  the  best  trans- 
lator of  the  day,  always  excepting  our  own  George  Herbert  Palmer, 
whose  prose  version  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  is  unapproachable.  Lang's 
"  Theocritus,"  however,  is  a  wonderful  book,  and  his  prose  "  Homer  " 
(done  with  Messrs.  Butcher,  Leaf,  and  Myers)  is  a  perpetual  delight 
to  readers.  His  "  Ballade  of  the  Royal  Game  of  Golf  "  shows  at  once 
his  lively  humor,  Lis  sound  Scotch  heart,  and  his  mastery  of  a  fascinat- 
ing but  difficult  form  of  verse: 

"  There  are  laddies  will  drive  ye  a  ba' 

To  the  burn  f rae  the  farthermost  tee ; 
But  ye  mauna  think  driving  is  a' ; 

Ye  may  heel  her  and  send  her  ajee; 
Ye  may  land  in  the  sand  or  the  sea  ; 

And  ye're  dune,  sir,  ye're  no  worth  a  preen, 
Tak  the  word  that  an  auld  man'U  gie, 

Tak  aye  tent  to  be  up  on  the  green ! 

"  The  auld  folk  are  crouse  and  they  craw 

That  their  putting  is  pawky  and   slee ; 
In  a  bunker  they're  nae  gude  ava', 

But  to  girn,  and  to  gar  the  sand  flee. 
And  a  lassie  can  putt- — ony  she, — 

Be  she  Maggie,  or  Bessie,  or  Jean, 
But  a  cleek  shot's  the  billy  for  me, 

Tak  aye  tent  to  be  up  on  the  green. 


334  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  I  hae  plaved  in  the  frost  and  the  thaw, 

I  hae  played  sin'  the  year  thirty-three, 
I  hae  plaved  in  the  rain  and  the  snaw, 

And  I  trust  I  may  play  till  I  dee ; 
But  I  tell  ye  the  truth  and  nae  lee, 

For  I  speak  o'  the  thing  I  hae  seen— 
Tom  Morris,  I  ken,  will  agree,— 

Tak  aye  tent  to  be  up  on  the  green. 

ENVOY 

"  Prince,   faith,  you're   improving  a   wee, 

And,  Lord,  man  they  tell  me  you're  keen; 
Tak  the  best  of  advice  that  can  be,  ^^ 
Tak  aye  tent  to  be  up  on  the  green.  ' 

William  Butler  Yeats  (1865-  )  has  steeped  his  imagination  in 
Irish  myth  and  tried  to  create  an  Irish  literature  distinct  from  that 
of  England.  The  result  is  that  he  has  written  some  effective  and 
charming  poetry  of  old  unhappy  far-off  things  and  battles  long  ago. 
Yeats  is  a  disciple  of  Blake,  and  believes,  with  Cowper  and  Cowley, 
that  God  made  the  country  and  man  made  the  town.  Some  of  his 
short  plays  are  admirable.  Among  these  "  The  Pot  of  Broth  "  and 
•The  Hour  Glass  "  are  best  known. 

John  Masefield,  according  to  one  critic,  has  surpassed  "  Enoch 
Arden  "  with  his  poem,  "  The  Daffodil  Fields  ";  according  to  another, 
is,  on  account  of  "  The  Everiasting  Mercy  "  and  "  The  Widow  in 
Bye  Street,"  the  man  of  the  hour;  and,  in  the  opinion  of  a  third, 
has  told,  in  "  The  Story  of  a  Round  House,"  better  than  it  has  ever 
been  told  before,  the  hardships  of  a  passage  around  Cape  Horn. 
His  "  Tragedy  of  Nan  "  is  a  powerful  play.  He  has  been  a  bar- 
keeper in  New  York,  a  sailor,  and  a  Red  Cross  nurse  in  Flanders. 
His  verse  is  at  once  popular  and  powerful.  Unlike  most  of  our 
poets  since  Shakespeare,  he  writes  for  the  general  reader  instead 
of  for  the  educated  few.  As  somebody  has  said,  there  is  life  in  his 
poetry  and  there  have  been  poetry  and  romance  in  his  life.  The  boy 
or  girl  is  little  to  be  envied  who  does  not  find  pleasure  in  John 
Masefield 's  volumes. 

In  1885  Henry  Rider  Haggard  (1856-  )  won  a  great  success 
with  a  novel  called  "  King  Solomon's  Mines  "  and  in  1887  followed 
this  with  "  She,"  which  was  even  more  popular.  Both  are  ingenious, 
weird,  mysterious,  adventurous,  and  African. 


RECENT  WRITERS  555 

Mrs.  Humphry  Ward  (1851-  ),  a  descendant  of  Dr.  Arnold 
of  Rugby  and  the  wife  of  Thomas  Humphry  Ward,  editor  of  the 
EngHsh  poets  and  of  "  The  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature," 
is  the  author  of  several  powerful  novels.  The  best  of  these  is  "  Robert 
Elsmere,"  which  tells  the  history  of  a  soul  adrift  on  a  sea  of  religious 
doubt. 

James  Matthew  Barrie  (1860-  )  is  a  fascinating  and  ingenious 
Scot.  "  A  Window  in  Thrums  "  1889  made  him  one  of  the  most 
popular  novelists  of  the  day.  It  was  followed  by  "The  Little  Minister" 
1891,  "  My  Lady  Nicotine  "  1899,  "  Sentimental  Tommy  "  1896,  and 
"  Tommy  and  Grizel  "  1900.  He  has  since  devoted  himself  largely  to 
the  writing  of  plays.  "  The  Professor's  Love  Story  "  is  a  charming 
comedy,  "  The  Admirable  Crichton  "  a  clever  and  fantastic  defence 
of  society,  and  "  Peter  Pan  "  a  child's  play  without  a  rival,  unless  it 
be  Maeterlinck's  "  Blue  Bird."  Not  the  least  fascinating  of  Barrie's 
books  is  "  Margaret  Ogilvy,"  which  is  a  biography  of  his  mother. 

Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle  (1859-  )  first  won  fame  in  1887, 
1888,  and  1890  by  publishing  "  A  Study  in  Scarlet,"  an  exciting  Mor- 
mon story;  "  Micah  Clarke,"  a  tale  of  James  H;  and  "  The  White 
Company,"  a  history  of  the  adventures  of  a  company  of  English  bow- 
men in  France  and  Spain  in  Chaucer's  time.  The  best  known  of  his 
later  books  is  "  The  Adventures  of  Sherlock  Holmes,"  a  series  of 
detective  stories  unequalled  in  our  literature  since  Poe's.  He  was 
knighted  1902,  not  on  account  of  his  success  as  a  writer  of  fiction,  but 
because  he  had  explained  and  justified  the  conduct  of  Britain  in  the 
Boer  war  in  a  short  work  called  "  The  Cause  and  Conduct  of  the 
War." 

Anthony  Hope  Hawkins  (1863-  ),  under  the  pen-name  of 
Anthony  Hope,  in  1894  published  "  The  Prisoner  of  Zenda,"  a  novel 
which  won  popular  favor  by  reason  of  his  skill  in  mixing  romanticism, 
satire,  and  burlesque.     "  Rupert  of  Hentzau  "  is  in  the  same  vein. 

Lafcadio  Hearn  (1850-1904)  resembled  Stevenson  in  his  life,  his 
fate,  and  the  delicacy  of  his  art.  The  son  of  a  Greek  mother  and  an 
Irish  father,  he  was  born  in  the  island  of  Leucadia — that  particular 
isle  of  Greece  "  where  burning  Sappho  loved  and  sung."  Part  of  his 
youth  was  spent  in  England,  where  he  suffered  from  fog,  and  part  in 


:,ric,  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

a  Jesuit  college  in  northern  France,  where  he  acquired  little  religion 
but  a  great  knowledge  of  French.  During  his  school  days  he  lost  the 
sight  of  his  left  eye  through  an  accident  in  a  game.  At  sixteen  he 
quarrelled  with  his  aunt,  who  had  been  supporting  him,  and  was  forced 
in  consequence  to  live  for  three  years  in  a  state  of  poverty  as  abject 
as  that  which  converted  Johnson  into  a  bear.  In  1869  he  appeared 
without  money  or  friends  in  New  York.  Thence  he  drifted  to  Cin- 
cinnati and  New  Orleans,  in  both  cities  doing  brilliant  journalistic 
work,  especially  in  the  interpretation  of  Pierre  Loti  and  Theophile 
Gautier.  These  labors  were  interrupted  by  a  journey  to  Japan,  which 
he  undertook  in  behalf  of  Harper's  Magazine.  He  was  to  have  been 
gone  one  year,  but  he  never  returned.  Japan  fascinated  him  and  he 
understood  Japan.  He  found  it  an  Oriental  nation  of  the  fourteenth 
century;  he  saw  it  made  over  by  western  ideas.  As  a  teacher  of 
English  in  a  Japanese  college  he  had  no  small  share  in  producing  this 
transformation;  as  a  writer  he  interpreted  Japan  to  the  western  world. 
He  married  a  Japanese  woman  of  high  rank,  became  a  Japanese  citi- 
zen, and  so  won  the  confidence  of  his  adopted  countrymen  that  one 
of  them  said:  "  We  could  better  afford  to  lose  two  or  three  battleships 
at  Port  Arthur  than  Lafcadio' Hearn."  Upon  his  tomb  his  pupils 
placed  this  inscription:  "  In  memory  of  Lafcadio  Hearn,  whose  pen 
was  mightier  than  the  sword  of  that  victorious  nation  which  he  loved 
and  lived  among  and  whose  highest  honor  it  is  to  have  given  him 
citizenship  and  alas!  a  grave."  As  a  letter-writer,  Hearn  ranks  with 
Stevenson. 

H.  G.  Wells  (1868-  )  in  his  youth  pursued  the  study  of  French 
and  bookkeeping,  which  he  never  effectually  overtook,  his  tutor  being 
an  elderly  gentleman  who  explained  nothing  and  used  a  cane  with 
dexterity.  This  training,  coupled  with  the  study  of  biology,  enabled 
him  1895  to  produce  a  book  called  "  The  Time  Machine,"  which  shows 
the  earth  802,701  a.d.  This  brilliant  fantasy  was  followed  1897  by 
"  The  Invisible  Man,"  in  which  an  effort  is  made  to  show  what  man 
could  do  if  he  could  not  be  seen.  "  The  War  of  the  Worids  "  1898 
describes  a  contest  between  the  Martians  and  the  English.  The 
former  are  physically  like  octopi  but  mentally  surpass  men  as  much 
as  men  surpass  cows.    The  English  escape  because  the  invaders  sue- 


RECENT  WRITERS  557 

cumb  to  terrestrial  microbes.  It  is  a  fascinating  story  told  with  great 
skill.  In  "  When  the  Sleeper  Awakes  "  1899  and  "  In  the  Days  of  the 
Comet  "  1906  Mr.  Wells  discusses  the  differences  of  capital  and  labor. 
"  The  War  in  the  Air  "  1908  is  a  prophetic  account  of  the  destruction 
of  civilization  due  to  a  world  war,  written  with  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  stupidity  of  war.  In  "  Kipps  "  1905,  "  Tono-Bungay  "  1909, 
"  Ann  Veronica  "  1909,  and  "  The  World  Set  Free  "  1914,  Mr.  Wells 
has  produced  literature  of  a  still  higher  quality  but  of  less  interest 
to  young  people.  His  last  book,  "  Mr.  Britling  Sees  It  Through," 
1916,  deals  with  the  world  war.  That  he  is  a  great  writer,  a  writer 
whose  work  will  live,  there  is  little  doubt. 

Arnold  Bennett  (1865-  )  is  the  author  of  several  novels  about 
a  locality  known  as  the  five  towns,  where  pottery  is  made.  One  of 
his  best  stories  is  his  "  The  Old  Wives'  Tales,"  in  which  he  tells  a 
simple  story  of  two  women  in  a  fashion  that  cannot  be  overlooked. 
He  is  best  known  in  the  United  States  by  a  volume  which  is  called  in 
America  "  Your  United  States  "  and  elsewhere  "  Those  United  States." 
Among  other  good  things  this  contains  an  unenthusiastic  account  of 
a  cold  morning  in  a  cold  Pullman  car  in  Toledo,  Ohio;  a  description 
of  an  American  telephone  exchange  which  is  calculated  to  make  one 
regard  telephone  girls  with  charity  instead  of  hostility;  and  a  picture 
of  a  crowd  of  American  high  school  boys  and  girls  that  makes  one 
willing  to  take  his  hand  and  call  him  brother.     Listen: 

"  A  number  of  young  men  and  maids  came  out  of  a  high  school 
and  unconsciously  assumed  possession  of  the  street.  It  was  a  great 
and  impressive  sight;  it  was  a  delightful  sight.  They  were  so  sure 
of  themselves,  the  maids  particularly;  so  interested  in  themselves, 
so  happy,  so  eager,  so  convinced  (without  any  conceit)  that  their 
importance  transcended  all  other  importances,  so  gently  pitiful  toward 
men  and  women  of  forty-five,  and  so  positive  that  the  main  function 
of  the  elders  was  to  pay  school  fees,  that  I  was  thrilled  thereby. 
Seldom  has  a  human  spectacle  given  me  such  exciting  pleasure  as  this 
gave.     (And  they  never  suspected  it,  those  preoccupied  demigods.)" 

Bennett  says  this  of  American  art  and  literature: 

"  Their  poor  inartistic  Philistine  country  did  provide,  inter  alia, 
the  great  writer  who  has  influenced  French  imaginative  writers  more 


558  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

deeply  than  any  other  foreign  writer  since  Byron — Edgar  Allan  Poe; 
(lid  produce  one  of  the  world's  supreme  poets — Whitman;  did  pro- 
duce the  greatest  pure  humorist  of  modern  times;  did  produce  the 
miraculous  Henry  James;  did  produce  Stanford  White  and  the  incom- 
parable McKim;  and  did  produce  the  only  two  Anglo-Saxon  personali- 
ties who  in  graphic  art  have  been  able  to  impose  themselves  on  modem 
Europe — Whistler  and  John  Sargent." 

Thomas  Hardy  (1840-  )  is  regarded  by  some  critics  as  the 
greatest  poet  and  novelist  of  the  day.  His  best  works  are  "  Far  from 
the  Madding  Crowd  "  1874,  "  Tess  of  the  d'Urbervilles  "  1891,  and 
"  Wessex  Poems  "  1898.  His  latest  publication  is  a  book  of  poems, 
'•  Satires  of  Circumstance  "  1914.  The  first  of  these  appeared  anony- 
mously and  was  ascribed  by  some  to  George  Eliot,  while  others  denied 
the  possibility  of  this  on  the  ground  that  it  was  too  good  for  her  to 
have  produced.  Hardy  is  most  original,  as  a  stylist  occupies  a  high 
place,  and  is  careful  above  all  things  else  to  paint  life  accurately. 
His  pictures  of  peasants  surpass  all  others  except  those  in  "  Hamlet  " 
and  "  A  Winter's  Tale." 

Joseph  Conrad  (1857-  ),  as  an  author  of  sea  stories,  told  in 
a  style  that  rivals  Stevenson's,  often  recalls  Sterne,  and  is  as  full  of 
dash  at  times  as  Kipling's,  has  won  for  himself  high  rank  among 
contemporary  novelists.  Gouverneur  Morris  says  of  him:  "  More 
and  more  I  hear  people  say, '  Have  you  read  Conrad's  latest?  '  Those 
who  haven't  read  him  are  not  well  read.  Those  who  don't  intend  to 
read  him  are  of  a  foolish  and  slovenly  mental  habit.  As  for  those 
who  are  engaged  in  reading  him — for  the  first  time — oh,  my  word, 
how  I  envy  them!  "  His  first  book  was  "  Almayer's  Folly  "  1895; 
his  latest  is  "  Victory  "  1915;  his  best  perhaps  "  Lord  Jim  "  1900. 

Hall  Caine  (1853-  )  is  the  author  of  several  powerful  and 
gloomy  novels.  The  best  of  these  are  "  The  Deemster  "  1887,  "  The 
Bondman  "  1890,  "  The  Manxman  "  1894,  "  The  Eternal  City  "  1901. 
He  has  dramatized  several  of  these  with  conspicuous  success.  His 
latest  book,  "  The  Drama  of  365  Days,"  1915,  depicts  scenes  in  the 
great  war. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  (1861-  ),  Professor  of  English  Literature 
at  Oxford  since  1904,  is  the  author  of  the  volume  on  Shakespeare  in 


RECENT  WRITERS  559 

the  English  Men  of  Letters  series.  This  is  the  most  brilHant, 
scholarly,  and  readable  study  of  the  poet  ever  written.  Among 
his  other  publications  are  "  The  Enghsh  Novel  "  1894,  "  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson"  1895,  "Style"  1897,  "Milton"  1900,  "Words- 
worth "  1907,  "  Six  Essays  on  Johnson  "  1910.  He  was  made  a 
baronet  in  1911. 

Augustine  Birrell  (1850-  )  in  1884  and  1887  distinguished 
himself  by  the  publication  of  "  Obiter  Dicta,"  first  and  second  series, 
two  volumes  of  brilliant  essays  on  literary  subjects.  The  best  of 
these  is  that  on  Edmund  Burke. 

Gilbert  Keith  Chesterton  (1874-  )  in  1904  contributed  to  the 
English  Men  of  Letters  series  the  volume  on  Browning,  which  is 
almost  as  brilliant  and  readable  as  Raleigh's  '"  Shakespeare."  He  is 
also  the  author  of  several  volumes  of  stories  and  essays,  among  which 
"  Tremendous  Trifles  "  1909  is  perhaps  as  clever  as  any.  Here  are  a 
few  of  his  observations:  "  I  will  lift  up  my  eyes  to  the  hills,  from 
whence  cometh  m}^  help;  but  I  will  not  lift  up  my  carcass  to  the  hills, 
unless  it  is  absolutely  necessary."  "  Once  I  planned  to  write  a  book 
of  poems  entirely  about  the  things  in  my  pockets.  But  I  found  it 
would  be  too  long."  "  Cleanliness  is  not  next_^  to  godliness  nowadays, 
for  cleanliness  is  made  an  essential  and  godliness  is  regarded  as  an 
offence." 

George  Bernard  Shaw  (1856-  )  is  also  a  pla3rwright.  His 
method  is  to  turn  preconceived  and  accepted  notions  upside  down  and 
inside  out.  He  does  this  so  cleverly  that  he  seldom  fails  to  be  amus- 
ing. In  "  Man  and  Superman,"  for  instance,  his  theme  is  the  idea  that 
woman  is  the  huntsman  and  man  is  her  game.  In  "  Caesar  and  Cleo- 
patra "  he  tells  the  story  of  Caesar's  visit  to  Alexandria,  not  in  the  key 
of  Shakespeare's  "  Antony  and  Cleopatra,"  but  in  that  of  Goldsmith's 
"  She  Stoops  to  Conquer."  In  "  Androcles  and  the  Lion  "  he  expands 
the  old  story  into  a  comedy  replete  with  fun  and  overflowing  with 
human  nature.  Among  the  ideas  which  Mr.  Shaw's  love  of  humor 
and  paradox  cause  him  most  persistently  to  obtrude  on  the  public  are 
the  notion  that  he  is  himself  a  greater  playwright  than  Shakespeare 
and  the  equally  absurd  proposition  that  all  property  should  be  held 
in  common.    Oliver  Herford  satirizes  his  egotism  thus: 


560  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

"  I  called  George  Bernard  Shaw  in  rhyme 
Tile  greatest  playwright  of  his  time. 
Next   day   Shaw  cahled :     '  Incorrect. 
For  his  read  all.    Signed,  Shaw.    Collect. 

Israel  Zangwill  (1864-  )  is  best  known  as  author  of  **  Chil- 
dren of  the  Ghetto,"  "  Ghetto  Tragedies,"  "  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto," 
and  other  stories  that  reveal  a  deep  insight  into  the  Jewish  character. 
His  play,  "  The  Melting  Pot,"  shows  the  United  States  as  a  crucible 
in  which  all  nations  are  being  fused  into  one  superior  race. 

Sir  Arthur  Wing  Pinero  (1855-  )  is  a  playwright  of  great 
power.  His  chief  dramas  are  "The  Magistrate,"  "The  School- 
mistress," "  The  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray,"  "  The  Notorious  Mrs. 
Ebbsmith,"  "  Trelawney  of  the  Wells,"  "  The  Gay  Lord  Quex,"  "  His 
House  in  Order,"  "  The  Thunderbolt,"  and  "  Mid-Channel."  Of 
these,  "  The  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray  "  is  probably  the  most  powerful 
tragedy  written  in  the  English  language  since  "  Lear."  Alii  of 
Pinero's  plays  are  well-constructed,  but  this  and  "  The  Thunderbolt  " 
are  preeminently  good  in  this  respect. 

John  Millington  Synge  was  born  near  Dublin,  1871;  graduated  at 
Trinity  College,  1892;  spent  much  time  in  Paris  and  elsewhere  on  the 
Continent;  was  associated  with  Yeats  in  the  direcUon  of  the  Abbey 
Theatre  at  Dublin;  died  in  Dublin,  March  24,  1909.  He  was  the 
author  of  two  descriptive  works,  "  The  Aran  Islands  "  and  "  Kerry 
and  Wicklow,"  but  it  is  as  a  dramatist  that  he  is  best  known.  His 
principal  dramatic  works  are  "  Riders  to  the  Sea,"  "  The  Well  of  the 
Saints,"  "  The  Tinker's  Wedding,"  "  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen," 
"  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World,"  and  "  Deirdre  of  the  Sorrows." 
Of  these  "  The  Playboy  "  is  undoubtedly  the  most  famous,  but  "  The 
Well  of  the  Saints  "  probably  the  better  drama. 

Stephen  Phillips  (1868-1916)  is  best  known  by  his  play 
"  Ulysses,"  in  which  he  turned  a  portion  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  into  a 
poetic  English  drama.  It  is  a  good  stage  play  and  contains  some 
memorable  lines.     His  "  Paolo  and  Francesca  "  is  also  admirable. 

Rupert  Brooke  (1887-1915)  owes  both  his  fame  and  his  death 
to  the  present  war.  When  hostilities  began  he  went  as  a  soldier  to 
Belgium.  In  the  spring  of  1915  he  sailed  for  the  Dardanelles.  There 
he  was  wounded.    He  died  on  a  French  hospital  ship  at  Scyros, 


RECENT  WRITERS  561 

April  23.    The  following  sonnet,  entitled  "  The  Soldier,"  has  made  a 
deep  impression  wherever  English  is  read : 

"  If  I  should  die,  think  only  this  of  me, 

That  there's  some  corner  of  a  foreign  field 
That  is   forever   England.     There   shall   be 
In  that  rich  dust  a  richer  dust  concealed, 

"A  dust  whom  England  bore,  shaped,  made  aware, 
Gave  once,  her  flowers  to  love,  her  ways  to  roam, 
A  body  of  England's,  breathing  England's  air, 
Washed  by  the  rivers,  blest  by  scenes  of  home. 

"  And  think,  this  heart,  all  evil  shed  away, 
A  pulse  in  the  eternal  mind,  no  less. 

Gives  somewhere  back  the  thoughts  by  England  given ; 
Her  sights  and  sounds  ;  dreams  happy  as  her  day  ; 
And  laughter  learnt  of  friends,  and  gentleness. 
In  hearts  at  peace,  under  an  English  heaven." 

The  circumstances  of  Brooke's  fate  recall  Keats,  Shelley,  and  Sir 
Philip  Sidney. 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  For  what  are  Americans  especially  grateful  to  James  Bryce? 

2.  Through  what  medium  do  children  become  familiar  with  the  name  of 

Andrew  Lang? 

3.  Who    wrote    "  The    Daffodil    Fields,"    "  The    Little    Minister,"    "  King 

Solomon's  Mines"? 

4.  What  is  meant  by  the  Celtic  Revival? 

5.  What  new  literary  vein  was  struck  in  the  nineties  by  H.  G.  Wells  ? 

6.  What  part  has  the  Five  Towns  played  in  modern  English  literature? 

7.  Name  three  modern  essayists. 

8.  Name  two  of  the  most  famous  modern  playwrights. 

9.  What  are  two  of  the  best  modern  books  you  have  read  in  the  last  two 

years?     Why  did  you  like  them? 
10.  Discuss  with  your  classmates  any  modern  movement  you  can  perceive 
in  English  literature. 

Suggested  Readings. — In  reading  modern  writers  it  is  well  to  bear  in 
mind  that  there  are  a  great  many  books  written  every  year  and  of  them 
only  a  very  few  are  worth  reading.  In  this  last  chapter  we  have  tried  to 
point  out  those  authors  who  are  writing  the  best  books ;  you  must  do  the 
rest. 


36 


CHAPTER  L 
RUDYARD  KIPLING  (1865-         ) 

"  When   'Onier   smote   'is   bloomin'    lyre, 
'Ed  'eard  men  sing  by  land  an'  sea ; 
And  what  he  thought  'e  might  require 
'E  went  an'  took — the  same  as  me." 

— The  Seven  Seas. 

"  If  they  could  see  as  thou  seest  they  would  do  what  thou  has  done, 
And  each  man  would  make  him  a  picture,  and — what  would  become  of 
my  son  ?  "  — The  Story  of  Ung. 

"  Lord,  send  a  man  like  Robbie  Bums  to  sing  the  Song  o"  Steam!  " 

— Mc Andrew's  Hymn. 

"The  Devil  mutters  behind  the  leaves:  'It's  pretty,  but  is  it  Art?'" 

—^The  Conundrum  of  the  Workshops. 

"  And  eacli,   in  his   separate   star, 
Shall  draw  tlie  tiling  as  he  sees  it  for  the  God  of  things  as  they  are." 

— Envoi. 

RuDiARD  Kipling,  the  greatest  writer  of  the  present  time,  was 
born  1865  in  India.  His  father,  John  Lockwood  KipUng,  was  an 
artist  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  curator  of  a  museum  at  Lahore. 
There  is  evidence  in  the"  son's  writings  that  the  father  was  a  wise 
teacher.  Rudyard's  formal  schooling  was  done  at  the  United  Services 
College  at  Westward  Ho,  England.  Those  who  wish  to  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  he  passed  his  first  years  may  per- 
haps read  with  profit  the  short  stories,  "  Wee  Willie  Winkie,"  "  His 
Majesty  the  King,"  "  The  Drums  of  the  Fore  and  Aft,"  and  "  Baa, 
Baa,  Black  Sheep."  Whether  they  read  them  with  profit  or  not,  hovvr- 
ever,  matters  little,  for  they  will  surely  read  them  with  pleasure.  In 
"  Stalky  and  Co.,"  moreover,  he  has  written  what  Richard  Le  Gal- 
lienne  and  John  Palmer  pronounce  the  best  of  all  boy  stories.  The 
student  may  derive  pleasure  from  the  effort  to  guess  which  character, 
if  any,  in  it  is  Kipling  himself. 

In  1882  Kipling  was  back  in  India  as  assistant  editor  on  "  The 
Civil  and  Military  Gazette  "  and  "  The  Pioneer."  In  "  The  Man  Who 
Would  be  King,"  there  is  some  description  of  the  life  he  must  have  led 

5G2 


RUDYARD  KIPLING 


563 


while  thus  employed.  Verses  and  short  stories  from  his  pen  began 
shortly  to  appear.  Soon  there  was  a  demand  for  a  collection  of  the 
former  and  in  1886  there  was  issued  from  "  The  Civil  and  Military 
Gazette  "  press  at  Lahore,  in  the  form  of  a  public  or  legal  document,  a 
collection  of  poems  called  "  Departmental  Ditties  and  Other  Verses." 
The  best  of  these  may  be  described  as  superlatively  good  comic  poetry, 


RUDYARD    KIPLING 
1865  — 

full  of  boyish  spirits  and  frankly  imitative.  There  were  "  Potiphar 
Gubbins,  C.E.,"  the  story  of  an  elevation — in  Indian  ink,  modelled  on 
Lowell's  "John  P.  Robinson  ";  "  The  Betrothed,"  a  lovely  variation  on 
Will  Carleton's  "  Betsy  and  I  are  Out  ";  "  Griffen,"  redolent  of  whisky 
and  Tennyson;  and  a  "  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  redolent  not  of  Dickens 
but  of  Browning.    There  were  also  more  original  verses,  familiar  since 


'AW  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

the  world  over.  Among  the  best  of  these  were  "  The  Inscription," 
"  The  General  Summary,"  "  The  Story  of  Uriah,"  "  The  Post  that 
Fitted,"  "  The  Man  Who  Could  Write,"  "  The  Ballad  of  East  and 
West,"  "  The  Ballad  of  the  Bolivar,"  and  "  Tomlinson."  As  the 
work  of  a  boy  of  twenty-one  the  volume  was  more  astonishing  than 
the  first  work  of  Pope  or  Chatterton.  How  the  cub  could  have  known 
such  things  is  a  far  deeper  mystery  than  that  which  the  Baconians 
say  is  connected  with  the  authorship  of  Shakespeare's  plays. 

The  little  brown  baby,  as  Kipling  called  the  book,  speedily  filled 
India  with  its  fame,  and  shortly  was  reviewed  by  Sir  William  Hunter 
in  "  The  London  Academy."  Within  a  fortnight  thereafter,  every- 
body in  England  was  reading  and  quoting  it.  "  The  English  Flag," 
one  of  its  poems,  so  pleased  Alfred  Tennyson  that  he  wrote  Kipling 
a  letter  of  commendation,  to  which  the  young  poet  replied:  "  When  the 
private  in  the  ranks  is  praised  by  the  general,  he  cannot  presume  to 
thank  him,  but  he  fights  the  better  the  next  day." 

Since  1888,  when  the  first  English  editions  of  "  Departmental 
Ditties  "  and  "  Plain  Tales  from  the  Hills  "  were  published,  Kipling's 
biography  is  the  story  of  a  man  who  has  travelled  everywhere  and  is 
now  inveterately  at  home.  He  has  been  for  some  years  and  is  now 
settled  at  Bateman's,  Burwash,  Sussex,  England. 

Among  his  achievements  during  this  period,  not  the  least  was  to 
live  seven  years  at  Brattleboro,  Vermont.  The  literary  results  of  his 
residence  and  travels  in  America  include  "  '007,"  a  prose  idyl  with 
an  American  passenger  locomotive  as  hero;  "  The  Walking  Delegate," 
a  story  in  which  the  atmosphere  of  a  back  pasture  in  Vermont  is 
perfectly  reproduced;  "  Captains  Courageous,"  which  is  at  once  a 
good  story  of  adventure,  a  noble  picture  of  the  life  of  a  Gloucester 
fisherman,  a  satire  on  cigarettes  and  snobbery,  and  an  eulogy  of  whole- 
some labor;  and  a  book  called  "  American  Notes,"  in  which  he  praises 
Bret  Harte,  Mark  Twain,  and  San  Francisco  punch,  but  finds  matter 
for  unflattering  comment  in  our  after-dinner  oratory,  our  habit  of 
guessing,  and  Chicago.  The  book  is  likely  to  anger  Americans,  yet 
it  is  mostly  true  and  friendly  in  spirit.  "  They  be,"  he  says,  ''  the 
biggest,  finest,  and  best  people  on  the  surface  of  the  globe.  .  .  . 
Wait  till  the  Anglo-American-German- Jew — the  Man  of  the  Future — 


i 


RUDYARD  KIPLING  565 

is  properly  equipped.  ...  He  will  sway  the  world."  Kipling 
also  showed  his  appreciation  of  America  by  marrying  an  American 
girl,  Miss  Caroline  Starr  Balestier,  1892.  In  "  An  Habitation  En- 
forced," one  of  his  finest  stories,  he  tells  of  the  emotions  and  experi- 
ences of  an  American  husband  and  a  wife  of  English  descent  who 
settle  in  a  southern  English  county  because  they  cannot  resist  its 
charm.  If  this  is  not  a  transcript  of  Kipling's  own  experiences,  it 
ought  to  be.     At  all  events,  it  is  an  exquisite  story. 

Since  Kipling  first  in  1888  came  upon  England  with  all  the  fury 
and  suddenness  of  a  monsoon,  his  literary  activity  has  been  multi- 
farious. He  has  constantly  been  doing  something  that  he  has  not 
done  before.  Like  Edgar  Allan  Poe  and  unlike  Conan  Doyle,  he  does 
not  repeat  himself. 

First  he  published  a  series  of  clever  and  cynical  stories  about 
English  official  life  in  India.  These  were  entitled  "  Plain  Tales  from 
the  Hills,"  "  The  Story  of  the  Gadsbys,"  "  Under  the  Deodars," 
and  "  The  Phantom  Rickshaw."     This  was  1888. 

Then  he  took  to  depicting  and  glorifying  Tommy  Atkins  in  prose 
and  verse.  "  Soldiers  Three,"  1888,  was  a  series  of  short  stories 
about  three  British  soldiers  in  India,  the  same  being  Privates  Mul- 
vaney,  Ortheris,  and  Learoyd.  Mulvaney  is  a  fascinating  Irish  wit, 
Ortheris  a  little  Welshman,  and  Learoyd  a  huge  Yorkshireman — a 
sort  of  human  battering  ram.  Though  their  ancestors  may  be  found 
in  Og,  Gog,  and  Magog,  in  the  three  Horatii  and  the  three  Curiatii, 
in  the  Bardolph,  Nym,  and  Pistol  of  Shakespeare's  "  Henry  IV,"  in 
the  Fluellen,  Macmorris,  and  Jamy  of  his  "  Henry  V,"  and  in  Dumas's 
"  Three  Musketeers,"  they  are  all — especially  Mulvaney — additions 
to  literature,  exceedingly  human,  simple-minded,  lazy,  irresponsible, 
brutal,  amusing.  "  Barrack-Room  Ballads,"  1892,  contained  six  songs 
that  Kipling  has  not  since  surpassed.  They  did  for  the  cockney 
dialect  what  Burns  did  for  the  Scotch.  Without  music  they  sing 
themselves  more  tunefully  than  most  of  those  mournful  ditties  that  are 
known  as  popular  songs  succeed  in  doing  with  its  assistance.  Their 
names  are  "  Mandalay,"  ""  Fuzzy  Wuzzy,"  "  Danny  Deever," 
"  Oonts,"  "  Gunga  Dhin,"  and  "  Tommy  Atkins." 

Kipling's  next  theme  was  native  India.     He  did  not  seek  to  explain 


566  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

it  but  to  convey  the  impression  that  it  is  and  must  remain  to  Euro- 
peans a  land  of  mystery.  The  student  who  wishes  to  mvestigate 
this  phase  of  Kipling's  work  should  read  "  The  Strange  Ride  of 
Morrowbie  Jukes,"  "  The  City  of  the  Dreadful  Night,"  "  The  Man 
Who  Would  be  King,"  "  William  the  Conqueror,"  and  "  Kim."  The 
first  is  hair-raising  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  fastidious  boy;  the 
second  is  the  hottest  story  ever  written,  there  being  in  it  not  one 
breath  of  air;  the  third  shows  how  the  European  who  lives  in  India 
lives  on  a  powder  magazine;  "  Kim  "  is  a  wonderful  tale  about  an 
Irish  orphan  boy  cast  adrift  among  Oriental  mysteries;  and  "  William 
the  Conqueror  "  is  the  story  of  a  man  with  a  halo  of  dust,  a  strong 
man  who  did  his  duty  in  time  of  pestilence  and  famine  by  acting  as 
nurse  to  a  troop  of  orphan  Indian  children. 

Kipling,  indeed,  is  preeminently  the  king  of  all  writers  about  and 
for  children.  In  1894  and  1895  he  published  the  first  and  second 
•'  Jungle  Books."  These  caused  even  severe  critics  of  his  previous 
work  to  admit  that  he  is  a  writer  of  inspired  genius.  "  Just-So 
Stories  "  1902  added  to  his  fame  in  this  branch  of  letters  and  to  the 
joy  of  childhood. 

In  1896  he  put  forth  a  new  volume  of  poems  entitled  "  The  Seven 
Seas."  Among  them  were  several  pieces  in  which  he  undertook  to 
do  for  the  British  sailor  what  he  had  previously  done  for  his  brother 
Tommy  Atkins.  "  The  Liner  She's  a  Lady,"  "  Mulholland's  Con- 
tract," and  "  The  Mary  Gloster  "  all  showed  him  vividly  and  power- 
fully; but  none  of  these  was  equal  to  "  McAndrew's  Hymn."  In  this 
he  sang  the  song  of  steam  in  a  fashion  which  is  as  good  in  its  way  as 
Burns's  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Night."  He  has  since  created  in  three 
short  prose  stories"  The  Bonds  of  Discipline,"  "  Their  Lawful  Occa- 
sions," and  "  Steam  Tactics  "—two  British  sailors  who  are  as  enter- 
taining as  Mulvaney.  These  are  Emanuel  Pycroft,  second-class  petty- 
officer,  and  Mr.  Hinchcliffe,  engineer.  Their  adventures  afloat  and 
ashore  are  excruciatingly  funny. 

From  the  British  sailor  to  the  British  Empire  is  an  easy  step. 
In  "  The  Seven  Seas,"  two  great  poems — "  The  Song  of  the  Banjo  " 
and  "  The  'Eathen  "—deal  with  this  theme.  It  is  the  main  subject 
of  "  The  Five  Nations,"  another  book  of  poems,  published   1903. 


RUDYARD  KIPLING 


567 


"  The  Feet  of  the  Young  Men  "  and  "  The  Explorer  "  are  perhaps  the 
best  things  in  this  volume.  They  are  like  trumpet-calls.  "  Traffics 
and  Discoveries,"  1904,  contains  "  A  Sahib's  War,"  "  Private  Copper," 
and  "  The  Army  of  a  Dream,"  all  short  stories  on  this  subject.  His 
most  influential  imperialistic  utterances,  however,  have  been  four 
editorials  in  verse — "  The  Truce  of  the  Bear,"  1898,  a  warning  against 
Russian  designs  in  India;  "  The  Islanders,"  1902,  in  which  he  exhorted 
his  countrymen  to  be  prepared  for  war;  "  The  White  T^Ian's  Burden," 
1899,  a  message  to  the  United  States;  and  "  The  Recessional,"  1897, 


k 


The  Houses  of  Parliament 
As  they  appear  to-day  from  the  Thames 

a  solemn  warning  on  the  occasion  of  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  Queen 
Victoria's  accession  to  the  throne.  Their  influence  for  good  or  evil 
has  been  so  pronounced  that  Kipling  has  been  called  a  greater  political 
power  than  any  member  of  Parliament. 

As  a  literary  artist,  however,  he  has  done  better  work  in  the  field 
of  mechanics  than  in  that  of  politics.  One  critic  says  that  his  ships 
and  his  engines  are  more  human  than  his  men  and  women.  "  The 
Day's  Work,"  1898,  deals  largely  with  this  theme,  previously  unknown 
to  hterature,  and  deals  with  it  so  well  that  it  is  almost  his  best  book. 


568  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

To  him  a  boiler  affords,  indeed,  almost  the  same  degree  of  inspiration 
that  Wordsworth  found  in  a  daffodil  or  a  sunset.  "  The  Bridge 
Builders,"  "  '007,"  "  The  Ship  that  Found  Herself,"  "  The  Devil  and 
the  Deep  Sea,"  and  "  Bread  upon  the  Waters  "  are  not  merely  good 
stories;  they  strike  a  new  note.  In  "  Traffics  and  Discoveries  "  there 
is  more  in  the  same  vein — "  Their  Lawful  Occasions,"  which  deals 
with  torpedo  boats;  "  Steam  Tactics,"  the  theme  of  which  is  the 
perversity  of  steam  automobiles;  and  "  Wireless."  "  With  the  Night 
Mail,"  which  is  in  "  Actions  and  Reactions,"  dips  far  as  human  eye 
can  see  into  the  future  of  aerial  navigation. 

It  must  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  Kipling  is  insensible  to 
spiritual  things.  In  some  of  his  stories  he  has  reached  heights  and 
depths  unattained  by  any  of  his  contemporaries.  For  subtlety,  for 
fineness,  for  insight  into  the  soul  of  man,  it  would  be  hard,  in  con- 
temporary literature  if  in  any,  to  match  "  William  the  Conqueror," 
''  An  Error  in  the  Fourth  Dimension,"  "  An  Habitation  Enforced," 
and  "  The  Brushwood  Boy."  In  these  the  themes  are  love,  loyalty, 
courage,  and  those  everlasting  mysteries  that  make  and  mould  men 
and  women  for  better  or  for  worse. 

His  greatest  work,  however,  has  yet  to  be  considered.  In  1906 
and  1910  he  published  two  volumes  of  stories  dealing  with  English 
history.  These  were  called  "  Puck  of  Pook's  Hill  "  and  "  Rewards 
and  Fairies."  Nothing  like  them  had  been  printed  before.  They 
were  inventions  just  as  surely  as  the  telephone  and  the  phonograph 
were  in\entions.  In  them  Dan  and  Una,  a  very  modern  boy  and  girl 
living  on  a  farm  in  Kent,  meet  on  various  occasions  with  Puck,  who 
introduces  to  them  a  number  of  people  who  once  lived  in  England  and 
whose  influence  was  such  that  it  survives  in  the  England  of  to-day. 
Never  before  was  there  such  history  teaching.  The  spirits  of  the  past 
rise  under  the  magician's  wand  and  tell  their  tales.  Prehistoric  cave 
man,  Roman  centurion,  Saxon  priest,  Norman  soldier,  mediaeval  archi- 
tect, Elizabethan  sailor,  Benjamin  Franklin,  George  Washington, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  live  again  for  us. 
"  Puck  of  Pook's  Hill  "  also  contains,  in  "  The  Road  to  Rimini,"  a 
Roman  counterpart  of  "  Tipperary  ";  and  "  Rewards  and  Fairies," 
"  If."  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  Kipling's  poems.  The  two  books, 
indeed,  are  priceless.     They  enrich  the  world. 


RUDYARD  KIPLING  569 

Since  1910  Kipling  has  published  a  child's  history  of  England, 
written  in  collaboration  with  C.  R.  L.  Fletcher,  1911;  "  The  Harbor 
Watch  "  (a  play)  1913;  "  The  New  Army  in  Training  "  1915;  and 
"  The  Fringes  of  the  Fleet  "  1916. 

Contemporaries  are  poor  judges  of  the  probable  duration  of  current 
literary  fame,  but  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  posterity  will  not  cherish 
"  Mandalay,"  ''  If,"  ''  Mulvaney,"  "  The  Jungle  Books,"  and  "  Puck 
of  Pook's  Hill." 

QUESTIONS  AND  EXERCISES 

1.  When  you  think  of  poetry  and  machinery  why  does  Kipling  come  to 

your  mind? 

2.  Name  five  different  classes  of  Kipling  stories. 

3.  What   was    the   occasion   of    the   publication   of    "  The    White    Man 

Burden"? 

4.  What  truth  does  the  "  Recessional  "  convey  ? 

5.  In  what  book  does  Private  Mulvaney  appear? 

6.  Which  story  of  Kipling's  do  you  like  best?     Why? 

7.  What  is  meant  by  "  imperialism  "? 

8.  Compare   Carlyle's  "  Gospel  of  Work "  with  Kipling's ;   which  is  the 

more  optimistic? 

9.  Name  two  great  books  on  school  life. 

10.  What  is   meant  when   it  is   said  that   Kipling  has   been   the  greatest 
political  power  in  England? 

Suggested  Readings. — Almost  everyone  knows  Kipling.  If  you  do 
not,  read  "  Captain  Courageous,"  "  The  Light  that  Failed."  and  "  Soldiers 
Three "  of  his  prose ;  and  "  The  Recessional,"  "  The  Feet  of  the  Young 
Men,"  "  The  Mary  Gloster,"  and  "  McAndrew's  Hymn  "  of  his  poetry. 

FINAL  QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  Name  in  the  order  of  their  greatness  the  ten  most  eminent  English 

writers. 

2.  Have  the  great  English  writers  been  liberal  or  conservative  in  politics? 

3.  Have  they  come  from  the  cottage,  the  middle  class,  or  the  nobility? 

4.  What  proportion  of  them  have  been  college  graduates? 

5.  Make  a  list  of  those  who  are  Cambridge  men  and  a  list  of  those  who 

are  Oxford  men.    Which  list  is  more  imposing?    Is  there  any  under- 
lying reason  for  this  phenomenon? 

6.  Name  in  the  order  of  their  merit  the  greatest  writers  of  Greece,  Rome, 

Spain,  Italy,  France,  Germany,  England,  and  America.  Copious 
discussion  should  -precede  and  follow  the  completion  of  this  exercise. 

7.  Is  the  literature  of  to-day  more  or  less  vigorous  and  excellent  than  that 

of  the  following  periods:  (a)  1360-1400:  (b)  1560-1616;  (f) 
1630-1688:  (d)  I70cr-i744:  (e)  1744-1780;  (/)  1786-1832;  (g) 
1837-1892? 

8.  Will  future  excel  past  English  literature? 

9.  Will  future  American  excel  future  English  literature? 

10.  What,  in  your  opinion,  is  the  chief  advantage  to  be  derived  from  the 

study  of  English  literature  by  American  boys  and  girls? 


APPENDIX 

ENGLISH  HISTORY  IN  STORIES,  NOVELS,  AND  PLAYS 

pgriod  Character        Title  and  Description  Author 

Prehistoric Story  Wieland's  Sword  -  -  Kipling 

Prehistoric  Story  The  Knife  and  the  Naked 

Chalk  Kipling 

Prehistoric Play  King  Lear  Shakespeare 

Prehistoric Play  Cymbelme  Shakespeare 

Roman  Period,  383-388  .  ^     .     •         r  *t,    o^t,- 

^  D  Story  A  Ccntunon  of  the  Thir- 

Roman'Period,   383-388  tieth  .  Kipljng 

A.  D Story  On  the  Wall  Kipling 

Roman  Period,  383-388  .      ^^  ^^.  ,. 

A.  D Story  The  White  Hats  Kiplmg 

Saxon  Period,  650 Story  The    Conversion    of    St. 

Wilfrid  Kipling 

Saxon  Period,  800 Novel  The   Thrall   of   Leif   the 

Lucky  Liljencrantz 
Edmund  Ironside,  1016 .  .  Novel           The  Ward  of  King  Canute  Liljencrantz 

Edward  the  Confessor. .  .  Novel  Hereward  the  Wake  Kingsley 

William   the   Conqueror, 

1 066- 1 08  7 Story  Young  Men  at  the  Manor  Kipling 

William   the   Conqueror, 

1 066- 1 087 Play  Harold  Tennyson 

William   the   Conqueror, 

1 066- 1 087 Novel  Harold  Lytton 

William     Rufus,     1087- 

1 100 Story  The  Joyous  Venture  Kipling 

William     Rufus,      1087- 

1 100 Novel  Count  Robert  of  Paris  Jcott 

Henry  I,  11 00-1135. .  .  .  .-Story  The  Tree  of  Justice  Kipling 

Henry  I,  1100-1135 Story  Old  Men  at  Pevensy  Kipling 

Stephen,  1135-1154 Novel  The  Betrothed  Scott 

Henry  n,  1 1 54- II 89.  .  ..Play  Beket  Tennyson 

Richard  I,  1 1 89- 1 199..  ..Novel  Richard  Yea  and  Nay  Hewlett 

Richard  I,  1 1 89- II 99.. .  .Novel  Ivanhoe  Scott 

John,  1 199-1216 Play  King  John  Shakespeare 

John,  1 199-12 1 6 Story  The  Treasure  and  the  Law  Kipling 

John,  1 199-12 16 Story  Rebecca  and  Rowena  Thackeray 

John,  1 199-12 16 Story  The  Merry  Adventures  of 

Robin  Hood  Pyle 

Henry  III,  1216-1273.  .  .Novel  Forest  Days  G.  P.  R. 

James 
Edward  T,  1 273-1 307. .. . 

PMward  II,  1307-1327..  .Play  Edward  II  Marlowe 

Edward  III,  1 307-1 377..  Juvenile      St.  George  for  England  Henty 

Richard  n,  1 377-1399..  .Play  Richard  II  Shakespeare 

Richard  II,  1377-1399..  .Novel  The  White  Company  Doyle 

Henrv  IV,  1 399-1413.. .  .Plays  (2)     Henry  IV,  pts.  I  and  2  Shakespeare 
570 


APPENDIX 


571 


Period 
Henry  V,  1413-1422.. 
Henry  VI,  1422-1471. 


Character 
.  .  Play 
.  Plays  (3) 
Novel 
Novel 


Edward  IV,  1 471-1484.  . 

Edward  V,  1483 

Richard  III,  1483-1485.. Play 
Henry  VII,  1485-1509..  .Story 
Henry  VII,  1485-1509..  .Story 
Henry  VIII,  1509- 1547.. Play 
Henry  VIII,  1509- 1547.. Novel 

Edward  VI,  1547-1553-  .Fantasy 

Mary,  1 553-1 559 Play 

Elizabeth,  1559-1603..  .  .Story 
Story 
Novel 
Novel 

James  I,  1603-1625 Novel 

Novel 

Charles  I,  1625-1649 Story 

Novel 

Dialogue 


Novel 


Commonwealth ,       1 649- 

1660 

Charles  II,  1660-1685 


Novel 
Novel 
Novel 

James  II,  1685-1688 Novel 

Novel 

William   and   Mary, 

1688-1702 Novel 

Novel 
Novel 

Anne,  1 702-1 714 Novel 

Novel 

George  I,  1714-1727 Novel 

George  II,  1 727-1 760.. .  .Novel 
Novel 
Novel 

George  III,  1 760-1 820..  .Novel 
Novel 
Novel 
Novel 
Novel 
Novel 

Novel 


Title  and  Description 
Henry  V 

Henry  VI,  pts.  i ,  2,  and  3 
The  Last  of  the  Barons 
The  Black  Arrow 


Richard  III 

Hal  o'  the  Draft 

The  Wrong  Thing 

Henry  VIII 

When  Knighthood  Was  in 

Flower 
Prince  and  Pauper 
Queen  Mary 
Gloriana 
Simple  Simon 
Kenilworth 
Westward  Ho! 
Fortunes  of  Nigel 
Judith  Shakespeare 
A  Doctor  of  Medicine 
Maiden  and  Married  Life 

of  Mary  Powell 
Conversation  between  Mr. 

John  Milton    and    Mr. 

Abraham  Cowley  touch- 


Authcr 

Shakespeare 
Shakespeare 
Lytton 
Stevenson 


Shakespeare 
Kipling 
Kipling 
Shakespeare 

Major 

Mark  Twain 

Tennyson 

Kipling 

Kipling 

Scott 

Kingsley 

Scott 

Black 

Kipling 

Manning 


ing  the  Great  Civil 

War  Macaulay 

Twenty  Years  After 

Dumas 

Woodstock 

Scott 

Deborah's  Diary 

Manning 

Peveril  of  the  Peak 

Scott 

Lorna  Doone 

Blackmore 

Micah  Clarke 

Doyle 

Shrewsbury 

Weyman 

Snarleyow 

Marryat 

Robinson  Crusoe 

Defoe 

Henry  Esmond 

Thackeray 

Devereux 

Lytton 

Rob  Roy 

Scott 

Monsieur  Beaucaire 

Tarkington 

Waverley 

Scott 

Treasure  Island 

Stevenson 

Barry  Lyndon 

Thackeray 

The  Jessamy  Bride 

Moore,  F.  F. 

The  Deemster 

Hall  Caine 

The  Virginians 

Thackeray 

Richard  Carvel 

Churchill 

Hugh  Wynne 

S.  Weir  Mit 

chell 

Janice  Meredith 

Paul     Leices 

ter  Ford 

Period 
Cjforge  III,  1 760- 1 820. 


Character 
.  .  Novel 
Novel 
Story 
Story 
Novel 
Novel 
Novel 
Novel 
Story 


APPENDIX 

Title  and  Description  Author 

Bamaby  Rudge  Dickens 

Adam  Bede  G.  Eliot 

Brother  Square-Toes  Kipling 
A  Priest  in  Spite  of  Himself  Kipling 

Silas  Mamer  G.  Eliot 

Midshipman  Easy  Marryat 

Charles  O'Malley  Lever 

St.  Ives  Stevenson 

Marklake  Witches  Kipling 


h7.- 


EPILOGUE 

Since  the  last  words  of  the  last  chapter  were  written,  great  events 
have  occurred.  Russia  has  become  a  republic.  The  United  States 
has  taken  its  place  side  by  side  with  Russia,  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Italy  in  that  world  struggle  for  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people  which  began  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
before  the  landing  at  Ebbsfleet.  These  events  mean  that  English 
ideals,  and  hence  English  speech  and  English  literature,  in  years  to 
come  will  be  more  powerful  than  in  the  past.    They  mean  that  Byron's 

lines, 

"  For  Freedom's  battle,  once  begun, 
Bequeathed    from    bleeding    sire    to    son, 
Though  baffled  oft  is  ever  won," 

are  still  alive.     They  mean  that  Wordsworth  saw  clearly  when  he 

wrote: 

"  We  must  be  free  or  die,  who  speak  the  tongue 
That  Shakespeare  spake,  the   faith   and  morals  hold 
Which  Milton  held." 

They  invest  with  fresh  significance  the  words  of  Shelley: 

"  But  war's  a  game  which,  were  their  subjects  wise. 
Kings  would  not  play  at." 

And,  above  everything  else,  they  mean,  as  the  inspired  peasant  sang, 
that  "  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er,  shall  brithers  be,  for  a'  that." 
As  Tennyson  says, 

"  The  old  order  changeth,  giving  place  to  new. 
And  God  fulfils  himself  in  many  ways, 
Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world." 

The  maxim,  "  From  God  the  king,  from  the  king  the  law,"  is  sup- 
planted by  the  essentially  nobler,  more  truly  philosophical,  and  al- 
together English  and  Saxon  maxim,  "  The  voice  of  the  people  is  the 
voice  of  God." 


573 


/ 


/> 


m 


1 


INDKX 


"    \                                       (Hunt;.  4<Xi 

"  Air?      VVrll     thrtt 

V.m 

1   W«rll" 
.'h,  558 

The"      (Kd<cr  worth) , 

Vrc'lilli), 

lit     ami     Kracti/int "     ( Ki|< 

Ir  "  (KI1.H),  524,  526 

i.,,.,,i,     Jit    3n    222 

.i.h" 
457, 
/d- 

r 


.e    lidl"    (Burn** 
i<i   a    llaKip*  "    ^MifffH  > 


'iO.  ^.  ill,  s;; 


1 

1 

\ 

'iO. 

n 

d^ 

I 

J51. 


-UT/ 


Tara^ 

'''■>, 

;.»rt''  a. 

'II;, 

r:-*T-.:i'I.T;, 

.'.\\x- 

Wy), 

r    ,^ \( 


,w;, 


,xi,  19,  23 
rictitri»tics,  2-3 
77 
40 


-  V<r«>fri^ 


rx,,.^,r\.    '7    4^} 


'  Ge: 


< ,  353 
212,  22^^  2Z  '^>'J.  2^'2, 


-j~  i^.Sc&u>, 


%.^ 


2W 
,  207 


576 


I 


INDEX 


Antoinette,  Marie.  297,  419 
•'-^iMony   and    Cleopatra       (Shake- 
speare). 130,  131.  132,  208.  559 
'•  Appius  and   Virginia,"   155 
"Apologia   pro   Vita   Sua"    (New- 
man), 534  .^.,,      ^ 
"Apology  for  His  Life      (Cibber), 

"  Apology  for  Poetry  "  (Sidney).  96 
"Appreciations"    (Pater),  363 

"  Arabian  Nights,"  453,  485 

"Arachne  and  Pallas"  (Swift), 
227 

"  Aran  Islands  "  (Synge),  560 

"  Aratra  Pentelici  "  (Ruskm),  481 

Arbuthnot,  Dr.,  254,  262 

'-Arcadia"    (Sidney).  98 

"  Areopagitica  "   (Milton),  184 

"Ariadne  Florentina "  (Ruskin), 
481 

Ariosto,   108,  158.  379 

Aristophanes,  60 

Aristotle,  60,  143,  147 

"Army  of  a  Dream"  (Kipling), 
567 

Arnold,  Dr.,  454,  555 

Arnold,  Matthew,  66,  76.  328,  384, 
415.  471,  541  ff. 

"Ars   Poetica"    (Horace),  249 

Arthur,  30,  44.  48,  49.  84,  107,  187 

Aryan,   14,   15 

"As  You  Like  Tt "  (Shakespeare), 
71,  100,  116,  121,  130,  131,  136, 
347 

Ascham,   Roger,  88,  96,   101 

"Astracea  Redux"    (Dryden),  206 

"  Atalanta  in  Calydon "  (Swin- 
burne), 548 

Athanasian  Creed,  538 

"  Atheism  "  (Bacon),  147 

"Atheist's  Tragedy"  (Tourneur), 
155 

"  Athen?eum,"  519 

"Atlantis"    (Bacon),   148 

"At  the  Sign  of  the  Lyre"  (Dob- 
son),  552 

Audubon,  535 

Augustine.  30,  36 

"  Auld   Lang    Syne"    (Burns).    316 

"  Aurora  Leigh  "  (E.  B.  Browning), 
519.  521 

Austen.   Cassandra,  505 

Austen,  Jane,  215,  220.  352.  494, 
503,  504ff. 


"Autobiography"    (Gibbon),  216 
Ayr,  315 

Bacon.  Francis,  60,  97,  101,  102,  111, 
143ff.,  151,  155,  431,  438,  444,  564 

Bacon-Shakespeare     question,     148, 
155 

Bailey,    Harry,   66,    71.   74,   76 

"  Balaustion's  Adventure"  (Brown- 
ing), 450 

"Balder  Dead"    (Arnold),  530 

Balfour,  David,  493 

"Ballad  of  the  Bolivar"  (Kipling), 
564 

Ballade,  552 

"Ballades  of  Books"    (Lang),  553 

"Ballades  in  Blue  China"  (Lang), 
553 

"  Ballades     and      Lyrics     of      Old 
France"  (Lang),  553 

"  Ballads  of  Polic-eman  X  "  (Thacke- 
■     ray),  465 

"  Barchester    Towers"    (Trollope), 
540 

"  Bard's  Epitaph  "  (Burns),  321 

"  Barnaby  Rudge  "    (Dickens),  457 

Barnfield,  Richard,  159 

"Barrack    Room    Ballads"     (Kip- 
ling), 565 

Barrie.  James  Matthew,  555 

Barrow,  Isaac,  202 

"Barry  Lyndon"  (Tkackeray),  466 

"Bastille"  (Carlyle).  417 

"Battle  of  the  Baltic"  (Campbell). 
400 

"Battle   of    Blenheim"    (Southey), 
402 

"Battle    of    the    Books"     (Swift), 
224,  298 

Baxter,  Richard,  171 

Beaconsfield,  Lord.  193,  483,  530,  539 

"Beau  Nash"   (Goldsmith),  215 

Beaumont.    Francis,    151.    153,    156, 
157,   174,  201 

Beaumont,  George,  339,  340 

"Beaux'    Stratagem"    (Farquhar), 
202 

Bede,  31,  33,  34.  47 

"Beggars'  Opera"   (Gay).  299 

"Beket."  43,   122,  441 

Belles  lettres,  11 

;"  Bells       and       Pomegranates " 
(Browning),    448 

""B-en-Hur"  (Wallace),  31 


INDEX 


577 


Bennett,  Arnold,  557 

Bentley,  Richard,  253,  298 

"Beowulf,"  27,   28  547 

'ijj^po"   (Byron).  378,  380 

Berkeley,  George,  302 

Besant,  Walter,  544 

"The  Betrothed"  (Scott),  353, 
(Kipling),   563 

Bible,  58.  83,  90.  102,  118,  161,  222, 
386,  429,  474.  482,  485 

iLBible  in  Spain"   (Borrow),  538 

"  Biographia  Literaria "  (Cole- 
ridge), 362 

Birrell,  Augustine.  288,  291,  297,  559 

Black,  William,  546 

Blackmore.  Richard   D..  545 

Blackstone,    William,   306 

Black  Death,  59 

"-The  Black  Dwarf"  (Scott).  353 

Blake,  William.  219,  396.  409.  554 

Blank  verse.  95.  121.  308 

"^leak  House"  (Dickens),  406,  460 

'iiBlessed  Damozel "  (Rossetti),  551 
,^JlBlot  in  the  'Scutcheon,  A " 
(Browning),  448 

■'<-Blue  Bird,  The"  (Maeterlinck), 
553 

"Boat  on  the  Serchio "  (Shelley), 
387 

Boccaccio,  60,  66,  71,  76 

Boethius,  36,  496 

Bolingbroke,  Lord,  228,  254,  256, 
262 

"Bondman"   (Caine),  558 

"Bonds  of  Discipline"  (Kipling), 
566 

"  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  102 

"Book  of   Martyrs"    (Foxe),  97 

Bopp,   Franz,   13 

"Borderers,  The"  (Wordsworth), 
360 

Borrow,  George  Henry,  538 

Bos  well,  James,  217,  220,  266,  273, 
275ff.,  278,  357,  366,  404,  431,  540 

"Bothwell"    (Swinburne),   549 

Bowring,   Sir  John,  470 

"  The  Boy  and  the  Angel  "  (Brown- 
ing), 448 

Boyd,  Hugh  Stuart,  516 

Boyle,  Robert,  204 

Boz.  453,  456 

"Bread  Upon  the  Waters"  (Kip- 
ling),  568 

"Bride  of  Abydos "  (Byron),  377 
37 


'''^Mde  of  Lammermoor "   (Scott), 

353,  354 
"Bridge    Builders"    (Kipling),    568 
"Bridge    of    Sighs"    (Hood),   530, 

551 
Bridgewater,   Earl   of,    180 
Britain,  history  of,   19,  20 
"Broken    Heart"    (Ford),   157 
F3 route,  Charlotte,  463,  501,  503 
Bronte,  Emily,  502 
Brooke,   Rupert,  560 
Brookfield,  A.  T.,  436 
Broome,  William,  253 
Brougham.   Lord,  374,   403 
Browne,   Sir   Thomas,   169 
Browning,    Elizabeth    Barrett,    435, 

445,  448,  471,  503,  516ff. 
Browning,   Oscar,  529, 
Browning,  Robert,  60,  78,  159,  165, 

328,  410,  415,  454ff.,  516,  518,  559, 

563 
"-Brushwood  Boy,  The"   (Kipling), 

568 
Bryce,  James,  552 
Brydges,  Egerton,  167 
Buchanan,    George.   94 
Bucolic  poetry,  105,  113 
Buckle.  432 

Bulwer-Lytton,  87,  459 
Bunyan,  John,    161,   193ff.,  348,  482 
Burgoyne,   Sir  John,  471 
Burke,  Edmund,  212,  220,  275,  276, 

283,  286,  288ff.,  298,  434,  504,  559 
Burleigh,  Lord,  106,  110,  112 
Burnev,  Francis,  207,  220,  275,  352, 

497, '507 
Burns,    Robert,    114,    126,   219,   220, 

312,  315ff.,  345,  375,  396,  400,  409, 

410,  414,  420,  423,  451,  565,  566 
Butler,  Joseph,  302 
Butler,  Samuel,  200 
Byrom,  John,  302 
Byron,    Lord,    159,    170,    220,    246, 

253,  265,  302,  312,  373ff.,  390,  396, 

402,  409,  445,  451,  482,  502 

Caedmon,  31,  61,  118 

Ceesar,    Julius,    14,    18,    19,    20,    51, 

238,    348,   420 
"  C.Tsar    and    Cleopatra"    (Shaw), 

559 
"C-esar,  A  Sketch"   (Froude),  540 
"  Cagliostro  "    (Carlyle),  415 
Caine,  Hall,  559 


INDEX 


"Caliban  Upon  Setebos "  (Brown- 
ing), 450 

"Call  to  the  Unconverted"  ( Bax- 
ter), 171 

■•  Callista  "  (Newman),  533 

Calvinistic  Theology,  189 

Cambridge  University,  47,  86,  103, 
113  121,  143.  176.  206.  247,  298, 
305.  359,  Z7X  428.  436.  463.  535 

•■  Campaign  "  (Addison),  236 

Campliell.  Thomas.  265.  269.  312, 
i^2.   400.   409 

•;4=anterburv  Tales"  (ChatirPt). 
65ff.,   84,  '114 

"Captains  Courageous"  (Kip- 
ling), 564 

Carew,   Tliomas,    167 

Carev.  Elizalieth.  494.  495 

Carey,   Sir   Robert.   158 

Carlvle.  Thomas.  9.  151.  161,  169, 
217,  253.  266.  271.  279,  297,  326. 
346,  362,  373,  41  Off.,  430.  433.  435, 
438  442,  444,  458.  460.  479.  480. 
484.  540 

Carroll,  Lewis  (see  Dodgson, 
Charles) 

"  Casabianca  "  (Hemans),  500 

"Castle  Dangerous"  (Scott). 
353.  356 

"Castle  of  Indolence"  (Thom- 
son). 303,  341 

"Castle  Rackrent"  (Edgeworth), 
352.  497 

"Castle  of  Wolfcnbach"  (Rad- 
cliffe),   509 

"Cataract  of  Lodore "  (Southey), 
403 

"  Catarina  to  Camoens ''  (E.  B. 
Browning).  521 

"Catiline"    (Jonson),   152 

Cato,  149,  239 
-*K;ato"   (Addison),  239 

"-Catriona  "    (Stevensgn),  491 

"  Cause  and  Conduct  of  the  War  " 
(Doyle),   555 

"Cavalier  Tunes"  (Browning), 
165,  448 

Cavaliers,   163ff. 

"  Caveat  "  (Harmon),  92 

Caxton,  William,  77,  78.  83,  85,  87, 
93,  %.  545 

•^tTecilia"    (Burney).   352,   497 

Celts,  14,  16,  19,  20,  22 

'MTenci"    (Shelley),  386 


Century   of   Expansion,  SStif. 

Cervantes,  453 

"  The     Changeling  "      ( Middleton  ) , 

155 
Channing,    Dr.,    189 
Chant  royale,  552 
Chapman,  George,  151,   156,  542 
"Character"  (Smiles),  539 
"Character     of     a     Happy     Life" 

(Wotton),   158 
"  Charge    of    the    Light    Brigade  " 

(Tennyson),   440 
"  Charity  "  (Cowper),  308 
"Charles   O'Malley "    (Lever),    534 
Chatterton,    George,   219,    220,    312, 

564 
Chaucer,    Geoffrey,   29,    45,    48.    55, 

57.  60ff.,  76,  78.  80,  90,   103,   105, 

109,    113,    114,   261,   311,   328.   365. 

441,  443,  545 
Cheke,  John,  96 
Chesterfield,   Earl   of.  217.  271 
Chesterton,  G.  K.,  445,  451,  485.  559 
"  Chevy   Chace."   82 
Cliild,  F.  J.,  82 
Child.    Harold.    504 
"Childe     Harold"      (Byron).     375, 

378,  379,  429 
"Childe  Roland"    (Browning),  449 
"  Children   of   the   Ghetto  "    (Zang- 

wijl),  560 
''^ti^lTild's       Garden       of       Verses  " 

(Stevenson),  490 
'■  Child's      History      of      England  " 

(Dickens),  460 
'■  Chimes,"  460 
"  Chinese    and    Outer    Barbarians  " 

(Browning),  470 
Chivalry,  42 

"Choir  Invisible"  (Eliot),  527 
"Christ"    (Cynewulf),  35 
"Christabel"   (Coleridge),  33 5, _  360 
"  Christis   Kirk    on   the   Grene,"   80 
"Christ's    Hospital"     (Lamb),    358 
Christianity,  31,  ZZ,  34,  48 
-'Mrhristmas  Carol"  (Dickens),  4.')8, 

460  s 

"The   Chronicle"    (Cowley),   168 
"Chronicle  of  Canongate  "  (Scott), 

353 
"~€hrononhotonthologos  "    (Carey), 

304 
Church.   Dean,  114,   150 
Cibber-  Colley,  216,  257,  302 
"Cicero"    (Middleton),   216 


INDEX 


579 


Cicero,  288,  294.  367 

"J^  of  the  Dreadful  Niglit " 
(Kipling),  566 

"i^tSrissa  llarlowe  "  (Richardson), 
298,  351 

Classicism,    31111. 

"-€-teon"    (Browning),  449 

"Clermont"    (Radchffe),    509 

'•Clive"   (Macaulay),  293.  434 

'■jGJeister  and  the  Hearth,  The '" 
•fReade),  539 

•'~Gkm&,  The"  (Shelley),  386,  388 

Coke,   Sir   Edward,    144 

Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  79,  83, 
152.  156,  161,  162,  168,  335,  336, 
346,  351,  358flf.,  367,  370,  375,  382, 
384,  386.  396.  402.  514 

Colet.  John,  87,  89,  102 

"Collected   Essays"    (Huxley),  544 

Collier,  Jeremy,  208,  232 

Collins,  William.  306 

Collins,  William  Wilkie,  544 

"  Colloquia  "    (Erasmus),  89 

"Colombe's  Birthday"  (Browning), 
^^448 

Colvin,  Sidney,  487,  488 

"^omedy  of  Errors"  (Shake- 
speare), 117,   125 

"  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of 
England"    (Blackstone),  306 

Comparative  philology,   13ff. 

"Complaint"    (Lindsay),   93 
dljCemplaint  to  Pity"  (Chaucer).  65 

ii-Compleat  Angler"  (Walton).  169, 
-^^10 

''■^mus"  (Milton),  152,  176,  178 

'^"Onciliation  of  the  American 
Colonies"   (Burke),  292 

"Conduct  of  the  Allies"  (Swift), 
226 

"  Confessio  Amantis  "   (Gower).  79 

^i«&Tnfessions  of  an  Opium  Eater  " 
-(De-^HWwey).  409 

Congreve.  William,  202.  404,  469 

"  Coningsby  "  (Disraeli).  539 

Conington,   John,   250 

Conrad^  Joseph,  558 

"^GoTTsolations  of  Philosophy"  (Bo- 
ethius),  36 

'"Constancy"     (Suckling),    167 

"  Constitutional  History  of  Eng- 
land"    (Hallam),  405 

"  Constitutional     History    of    Eng- 

.    land"   (Stubbs),  544 


"-^^cfntent  "   (Green),  96 

"  Contril)utions    to    the    Theory    of 

Natural      Selection"      (Wallace), 

544 
"X(")nundrum    of    the    Workshops" 

(Kipling),   562 
"Conversion  of  St.  Wilfrid"  (Kip- 
ling), 31 
"Conversation"   (Cowpcr),  308 
Cook,  Albert  S.,  162 
Cook.  Eliza,  503 
Cooper,    Bishop.   97 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  220 
-ll^oriolanus "     (Shakespeare),    130, 

132 
Corneille,    238,    311 
'.;-Gorsair,  The"  (Byron),  377 
"jgotter's         Saturday         Night" 

(Burns),  315.  319 
Cottle,    Amos,  360,   375 
^ount  Rol:)ert  of   Paris"    (Scott). 

353,  356,  528 
Covenanters,  353 
Coverdale.   Miles.  91,   161 
Cowley,  Abraham.   168,  495,  554 
Cowper,  William.  169.  217,  219,  263, 

308,  369,  396.  496,  506,  542,  554 
"£)<!rwper's  Grave"    (E.  B.   Brown- 
ing), 515 
Crabbe,  George,  219,  220,  312,  396. 

410,  506 
"-Granford"    (Gaskell),  502 
Cranmer,   Archbishop,  91,   102 
Creech,   William,  321 
Creighton,   Mandell.   433 
'"Pricket    on   the    Hearth"    (Dick- 
^^ns),  458 
Criticism.  96 
Cromwell.    60,    165,    170,    172,    186, 

206,  210.   373,  420 
"Cromwell"    (Carlyle),   421 
"..^irown    of    Wild    Olive"     (Rus- 

kin),  481,  482 
"Crudities"    (Coryate),    159 
"Cf^-    of    the    Children"     (E.    B. 
'drowning).  518,  521 
"J2l5lture  and  Anarchy"  (Arnold), 

542,  551 
Cunningham,  Allan,  447 
"Curse    of    Kehama "     (Southey), 

403 
Cycles  of  early  plays,  119 


580 


INDEX 


'i(GTml)cliMC "      (.Shakespeare),     45, 

137 
Cynewulf,  34,  44 

"fTafTodils  '    (Wordsworth).  ii7 

Danes,  36.  38,  441 

•UJaiiiel     Deronda"     (Eliot).    527, 
528 

"Danny  Deever "    (Kipling),  565 

Dante,  60.  76,  94,  95,  196,  311,  420, 
441 

"  Dante  and  Plis  Circle."  547 
^ftarkness"     (Rvron),    378 

Darwin.  Charles,  423,  435,  530.  535ft., 
541,  544 

Darwin.    Erasmus,   535 

"David     Copperfield "      (Dickens), 
115,  454.  459,  460,  467.  528 

Davies,   John,    158 

Davy,    Sir    Humphry,    399,    409 

"Day  Dreams  of  a  Schoolmaster" 
(Thrtfmpsmi),  485 

'•Bav's  Work"  (Kipling),  567 

■^Weath"    (Bacon),   146 

'M)eathhed"   (Hood),  530 

"Jdeath    in    the    Desert"     (Brown- 
ing),  450 

"Death    of    Qlnone "    (Tennyson), 
442 

"  De  Augmentis  Scientarum  "   (Ba- 
con), 147 

"  Df Cameron  "   (Boccaccio),  66 

"-Decline   and    Fall   of    the    Roman 
Empire"   (Gihbon),  215 

Deductive  method,  147 

"Deemster"    (Caine),  558 

"  Defensio   Regia,"    184 

Defoe,  Daniel,  215,  257,  298,  350 

"Deformity"    (Bacon),    146 
^]fl|<^  Gustibus "    (Browning),  449 

"T)eirdrc  of  the  Sorrows  "  (Synge), 
560 

Dekker,  Thomas,  154,  155 

Dcloney,    Thomas,   99 

'*~h^emeter  "   (Tennyson),  442 

Demosthenes,  269 

Denliam,  Sir  John,  160,  168 

"iJepartmental   Ditties"    (Kipling), 

'  563 

"  De    I'nifundis"    (Tennvson),   440 

De  Quincey,  Thomas,  249,  265,  403 

'Uiescent  of  Man"    (Darwin),  537 

"Descriptive    Sketches"     (Words- 
w.Tth  ),  334 


'i4^serted  Village"  (Goldsmith), 
280,  284,  334 

"Desultory  Stanzas"  (Words- 
worth),  343 

"■  Detached  Thoughts  on  Books  " 
(Lamb),  368 

'llievil  and  the  Deep  Sea"  (Kip- 
ling),   568 

"Devil's  Law  Case"  (Webster), 
155 

"Devil's    Thoughts"     (Coleridge), 

-162 

"Devil's  Walk"   (Southey),  403 

"Diamond  Necklace"  (Carlyle), 
415 

ii-©iana  of  the  Crossways  "  (^1li^ 
tWrJ,  545 

-i!»©iary "  (Evelyn),  202,  (Pepys), 
202 

"=.©Ttiry  and  Letters  "  (Burney),  497 

Dickens,  Charles,  115,  287,  334,  406, 
439,  453ff.,  467,  524,  534,  539,  540, 
544 

Dictator,  literary,  153,  204,  271 

Dictionary   (Johnson),  270 

"Diderot"   (Carlyle),  415 

J^J^  Dinner  at  Poplar  Walk  "  (Dick- 
ens), 454 

Diogenes,  9 

"Dirge  in  Cymbeline "  (Collins), 
306 

"Discourse"  (Bacon),  146 
J^^i^ssertation      on      Roast      Pig " 
(Lamb),  368 

"  Diverting  History  of  John  Gilpin  " 
(Cowper),  308 

lU^ivine  Comedy  "  (Dante),  196,  311 

Dobson,  Austin,  215,  246,  250,  265, 
552ff. 

"J^ctor  Faustus  "   (Marlowe),  122 
Doctor    Jekyll    and     Mr.     Hyde " 
(Stevenson),  490 

Dodgson,  Charles,  544 
,,„ii-+)ombey  and  Son  "  (Dickens),  458, 
460 

Donne,  John,  159,  169 

Donnellv,  Ignatius,  148 

i^on  Jiian  "  (Byron),  380,  381 

"Don   Quixote"    (Cervantes),  200, 

-^31 

Dorset.  Earl  of.  199 

Dowden,  Edward,  389 

Doyle,  Arthur  Conan.  555,  565 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  102 


INDEX 


581 


Drama :  corruption,  201 
(leclint,  157 
Elizabethan,  151 
growth,  118ff. 
Shakespearean,  117 
Drama  of   Exile      (M   P..  Brown- 
ing), 518 
'  Drama  of  365  Days  "  (Caine),  558 
"i^amatic  Idyls"   (  Browning),  450 
"..©famatic     Lyrics"      (Browning), 

448 
"IJ^amatic     Romances"      (Brown- 
"^ng),  448 

'JJiramatis   Person;c  "    (Browning), 

^50 

"  Drapier's  Letters  "  (Swift),  227 

"Dream  Children"   (Lamb),  368 

"Dream  of  (lerontius  "  (Newman), 

534 
"  Dream  of  the  Rood  "  (  Cvnewulf), 
35 
Ji-Bceamers  of  the  Ghetto"   (Zang- 
will),  560 
Dryden,  John,  60,  65.  78,    156,   159, 
171,  174,  202,  206ff.,  219,  222,  232 
.-— **l3uchess  of  Mam  "  (Webster),  155 
Dunbar,  William.  80,  87 
'^Dunciad"    (Pope).  257,  262,   111, 

284.  298,  374 
Dundas,  Henry,  307 
Dunne,  532 
Dyer.  Sir  Edward.  96 

"Eagle's  Nest,  The"  (Ruskin),  481 
'IM^Xy  German   Literature"    (Car- 
-^lyle),413 
„^>"Ears  "   (Lamb),  367 

"Earthly   Paradise"    (Morris),   547 
'V^stward    Ho"    (Chapman),    151, 
,.Xl56 

"'Eathen"   (Kipling),  566 
y^hh  Tide  "  (  Stevenson),  491 

"  Ecclesiastical  History  of  England  " 

(Bede),  33,36 
"Ecclesiastical    Polity"    (Hooker), 

88 
Eddas,  40 

Edgeworth,  Maria.  338.  494.  497.  507 
"Ediiiluirgh  Review,"  88,   193.   198, 

403.  408.  414,  429.  431 
Edinburgh  Universitv.  281.  487,  535 
Education,  89.  100.  181,  234,  266,  355, 
371.  481 
Scotch,  93 


Jl^dwin    and    Elgitha "     niiimillfil. . 

497  ^'^^—-^  - 

>4^oist"  (Meredith),  545 

"  Elegies  "  (Donne),  159 

"  Elegy  in  a  Country  Cluirchyard  " 

(Gray),  219.  261.  277.  306.  386 
"  Elene  "  (Cynewulf).  35 
Elia,  364 
"  Elinor  and  Marianna"  (Jai>e-Atw- 

-ten),  508 
Eliot,  George.  423,  473.  494,  503,  511, 

515  524 ff 
Elizabeth.  60,  88.  97,    102,   105.   107. 

111.    121,    130,   143,    151.    159,   494, 

541 
"Elizabethan      Writers"      (Saints- 
bury).  162 
Ellwood,  Thomas,  191 
"  Eloisa  to  Abelard  "  (Pope),  261 
Elyot.  Sir  Thomas.  89 
Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  60,  11,  149. 

189,  415,  438  _ 
"  Emigrants      in      the      Bermudas " 

(Marvell).  172 
-^^^mma"  (JaufijAtwten).  512.  513 
Emmet.  Robert,  406 
"  End   of   the    Play"    (Thackeray), 

470 
"  Endymion  "  (Disraeli).  539 
:»«ndymion  "  (Keats),  246,  390 
--England     and      Switzerland" 

(Wordsworth).  343 
"  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Review- 
ers "  (Byron),  375 
English  grammar.  45,  46 
English  history  (beginning),  23 
"  English  Humorists  "  (Thackeray), 

469 
EngHsh   language,    13ff.,  45,  48,  61, 

11,  83 
"English  Novel"  (Raleigh),  559 
"English  Poets"   (Ward),  87 
"English    Traveller"     (Heywood), 

155 
"  English  Writers  "  (Morlcy),  544 
-il^feToch     Arden     (Tennyson),    441, 

554 
"  Enquiry  into  the  Present  State  of 

Polite      Learning      in      Europe " 

(Goldsmith),  217 
"  Enrichiridon  "   (Erasmus),  89 
.^l£nvoi  "  (Kipling).  562 
Epic.  27,  .•'0.82.  181.441 
"  Epistle  to  Arbuthnot  "  (Pope),  259 


>82 


INDEX 


•  ICpitapli  "  (Coleridge),  362 
••  Ivpitlialamium '■   (Spenser),  111 
••  Ivppiiiu:  Hunt  "  (Hood),  531 
i:rasinns.  87.  88.  89,  93,  102 
"Erectlieus"    (Swinlmrne),  549 
'■  Krror   in  the  Fourth  Dimension  " 

(Kipling),  568 
■'  ICssay  on  Bacon  "  (Macaulay),  150 
■•  Essay  on  Burns  "  (Carlyle),  414 
■'  Essay  on  Byron"  (Macaulay),  314 
•'^ssay  on  Chaucer  "  (Lowell),  78 
'^ftssay  on  Criticism"  (Pope),  249, 

251 
"Essay  on  Dryden  "   (Lowell).  211 
"  Essay  on  the  Human  Understand- 
ing "  (Locke),  204 
'•  Essay  on  Johnson  "  (Carlyle),  279 
"  Essay  on  Man  "  ( Pope) ,  262 
•■  Essay  on  Milton"  (Macaulay),  192 
•'Essay  on   Mind"    (E.   B.   Brown- 
ing), 517 
"Essay  on   Poetry"    (Buckmgham- 

shire),  199 
"  Essay  on  Translated  Verse  "  (Ros- 
common), 199 
"Essays    in    Criticism"     (Arnold), 

542 
"Essence  of  Christianity"   (Feuer- 

bach),  525 
Essex,  Earl  of,  143 
'•  p:ternal  City"   (Caine),  558 
Ethics   (Ruskin's),  480 
*M?ton  Latin  Grammar"  (Linacre), 

89 
"  F.uganean  Hills  "  (Shelley),  387 
"Euphues"  (Lylv).  98,  102 
luiripidcs,  60,  89, '311,  405 
"Europe  Since  1815"  (Hazen),  523 
■"4i;veof  St.  Agnes"  (Keatstr"390 
"  Eve  of  St.  Mark  "  (Keats),  390 
"Evelina"    (Burney),  352,  497,  507 
Evelyn,  John,  202 
"Everlasting  Mercy"    (Masefield), 

554 
"  Every  Man  in  His  Humor"  (Jon- 
son),  152,  459 
"  Everyman,"  119 
Evolution,  530,  536ff..  543,  544 
"Excursion"      (Wordsworth),     95, 

344,  431 
"  Exeter  Book,"  35 
"Exile  of  Erin"   (Campbell),  400 
"Explorer"   C Kipling),  567 
"Expostulation"   (Covvper),  308 


"Expostulation    and    Reply " 
(Wordsworth),  335 

"Fal)les"  (Gay),  299 

'i-ftiery     Queen"     (Spenser),     102. 

107ff.,  196 
"Fair    Quarrel,    A"     (Middleton), 

156 
"Fair   Maid^of   the   West"    (Hey- 

wood),  155 
"  Faithful  Shepherdess  "(Fletcher), 

157 
"Faithless    Nellie   Gray"    (Hood), 

530 
"False  One"    (Fletcher),   157 
"Fancy  Ball"  (Pracd),  534 
"Fancy  in   Nubibus "    (Coleridge), 

362 
Fanshaw,  Lady  Anne,  494,  495 
■*'-Far   from   the   Madding    Crowd  " 
j Hardy),  558 
"  I^  r  e  w  e  1 1    Ode    to     Tobacco  " 

(Lamb),  364 
"Farewell  to  Folly"   (Lyly),  121 
Farquhar,  George,  202 
"Fates    of    the    Apostles"    (Cyne- 

wulf),  34 
"Faust"    (Goethe),   123,  311 
Fechter<<3harles,  459 
"Feet  of  the  Young  Men"    (Kip- 
ling), 567 
"Felix  Holt"  (Eliot){  528 
Fenelon,  Frangois,  318 
Fenton,  Elijah,  170,  253 
"  Ferdinand,      Count     Fathom'' 

(Smollett),  351 
Fergusson,  Robert,  318,  321 
"Festus"  (Bailey),  540 
Feuerbach,  Ludwig,  525 
Fielding,  Henry.   152,  215,  308,  351, 

453.  469 
"Fight,  The"  (Hazlitt),  409 
"  First  Impressions  "(Jane  Austen), 

506  ■        , 

"First   Principles"    (Spencer),    54.i 
Fitzgerald.  Edward,  439.  538 
"Five  Nations"   (Kipling),  566 
"Five  Towns"  (Bennett),  557 
Fletcher,  C.  R.  L..  569 
Fletcher.  John,   l56,   174,  201 
Ford,  John,  154.  157 
'-Fxirs    Clavigera"     (Ruskin),    481, 


INDEX 


583 


Forstcr,  John,  287,  423,  459 
"  Fortunes  of  Xigel  "'  (Scott),  353 
Foster,  Sir  Michael.  511 
"Fountain"   (Wordsworth).  323 
"  Four  Georges,  The  "   (ThackerajO. 


/Four  Plaj's  in  One,"  157 
j:>9^mx  P's"  (Hey wood),  119 
Fox.  Charles  James,   156,  283,  286, 

518 
Fox,  John,  172 
Foxe,  John,  97 
"  Fragments    of    a    Roman    Tale " 

(Macaulay).  412 
■'  Fragments     of     Science "      (Tjm- 

dall),  508 
"^Fra    Lippo    Lippi "     (Browning), 
'  449,  450 
"  Framlev  Parsonage"    (TroUope), 

470 
"Frankenstein"     (Mary     Shellev), 

367 
Franklin,    Benjamin,   204.    211,   277, 

518,  533 
Frederick  the  Great.  60,  400 
■Freeholder"   ( Addison),  230 
T^-f^eman.  Edward  A.,  411,  544 
"  French  Revolution."  160.  204,  212. 

311,  320.  331.  395.  401 
"  Friend  "  (Coleridge),  347 
''Friends"  (Montgomery).  380 
"Friendship"  (Bacon).  146 
Friends,  Society  of,  172 
'\Fringes  of  the  Fleet"   (Kipling), 

533 
Froude,  James  A..  157,  190.  403.  540 
Fuller,  Thomas,  169 
"Fuzzy  Wuzzy"  (Kipling),  530 

"  Garden,  The  "  (Marvell),  172 
"Gardens"  (Bacon),  146 
"  G^j'eth  and  Lvnette  "  (Tennyson), 
^^44 
Garrick.   David.   276.  280.  285,  434, 

497 
Gascoigne,  George.  88 
Gaskell,  Mrs.,  471.  502 
Gautier,  Theophile.  556 
Gay,  John,  254.  261.  469.  299 
"^gtiyLord  Quex"   (Pinero).  560 
'"^Geist's   Grave"    (Arnold),  542 
"Gentle  Craft"   (Deloney),  100 
"--Gentle  Giantess"   (Lamb).  368 
"  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  43,  44,  46 
47.  49 


^^^-^txxn^iW  Literature"  (Carlyle),  413 
"Gertrude   of   Wyoming"    (jSSbi^ 
_-^^fiiii^4p0 
^^iXihetto     Tragedies"      (Zangwill), 

560 
"Giaour"    (Byron),  Zll 
Gibbon,  Edward,  215.  216.  220.  253. 

276 
"Gil  Bias."  331 
Gladstone,    423,    433.    435,   484,   535. 

545 
Glencairn,  Lord.  322 
Globe  Theatre,  128,  135 
"  Godiva  "  (Tennyson),  438 
Goethe.   13,  123,   133,  311.  328,  336, 

383,  405,  415 
"Golden  Legend"   (Caxton),  84 
Goldsmith.  OHver,  214,  215,  217.  266, 

275,  276,  279,  280ff.,  307,  312,  334, 

351.  353.  434,  559 
"Good  Xatured  Alan  "(Goldsmith), 

284 
"  Gorboduc  "    ( Sackville    and    Nor- 
ton), 121 
Gordon,    Mary   Wollstonecraft,   384 
Gospel    of    Work     (Carlyle),    423, 

(Ruskin),479 
Gosse,  Edmund,  221.  250,  492 
Gosson.   Stephen,  96 
Gower,  John,  17,  79.  87 
Gray,    Thomas,   219.    220,   253,   261, 

277,  305,  Zn,  386 
"Great    Expectations"     (Dickens), 

461 
Greek,  88,  89 

Green,  John  Richard.  36.  442,  545 
Greene.  Robert,  Q^QQ,  1^1    1?4   1?f^, 

v^-   350 -^ ' 

Greenwo'od.  Alice.  79 
"Griffin"    (Kipling).   563 
^^^itoatsworth    of    Wit"    (Greene), 

124 
— "-©Qinevere  "   (Tennyson),  441 
"Gulliver's  Travels"    (Swift),  222. 
x^26,  228.  331 
.   "^unga  Dhin"  (Kipling),  565 
"  Gny    Mannering "     (Scott),    353, 

354 

"-Eiabitation  Enforced"    (Kipling), 

565,  568 
Haggard.  Rider,  554 
Hallam.   Arthur,   156.  406,  436,  439 


58-i 


INDEX 


Hallam,  Henry.  156,  405 
Halleck,  Fitz-(;reene,  315,  326 
Ihimilton,  Cierard.  290  ,,,     ,^ 

"Hamlet"    (Shakespeare),    UJ,    36, 

109   115,  118,  122,  130.  133ff. 
'-•-Harbor  Watch  "  (Kipling),  569 
"Hard  Cash"   (Reade),  539 
"  Hard  Times  "  (Dickens),  459 
Hardy,  Tliomas,  558 
Harmon,  Thomas,  92       ^,    ,..    ..^ 
"Harold"  (Tennyson),  43,  123,  442 
"Harold    the   Dauntless"    (Scott), 

349 
Harte,  Bret,  564 
Hastings.    Warren,    293,    431,    434, 

504,  511 
Hawkins,  Anthony  Hope,  555 
Hawkesworth,  John,  216 
Havward,    Sir   John,   97 
Ha'zlitt,  William,  78,  169,  403 
»    Hear^,   Lafcadio,   555 
"Heart  of   Mid-Lothian"    (Scott), 

353,  354 
"  Heat  as  a  Mode  of  Motion  "(Tyn- 

dall),  541 
Heber,  Reginald,  406 
"Hebrew   Melodies"    (Byron),  378 
•'  Helena"    (Goethe),  413 
Hemans,  Felicia,  499,  500,  503 
Henley.  William  Ernest,  488,  492 
"Henry'  Esmond"      (Thackeray), 

467,  468 
Henry,  Patrick,  292 
"^H'enry    IV"    (Shakespeare),    124, 

128,  130 
"Henry    V"     (Shakespeare),    128, 

130 
"  ?Ienry  VI"   (Shakespeare),  124 
"Henry  VIII"   (Shakespeare),  136 
Henryson,  Robert,  80 
Herbert,  George,  160,  169 
"  Hereward  the  Wake  "  (Kingsley), 

43,  541 
"Hero   and   Leander "    (Marlowe), 
392 

Herodotus,  60,  89 

"Ti^roes      and      Hero      Worship" 

(Carlyle),  419 
Heroic  couplets,  233,  392 
Herrick,  Robert,  154,  166,  222 
Heywood,  John,  120,  151 
Hevwood,  Thomas,   155 
"  Hili)a   and    Shalum  "    (Addison), 

243 


"Hind    and    the    Panther"     (Dry-      iL 
den).  209  V 

"His   House   in   Order"    (Pinero). 

560 
"  His  Majesty  the  King"  (Kipling), 

562 
"  History    of     Eighteenth     Century 

Literature"  (Gosse),221 
"History    of    England"     (Hume), 
215;  Goldsmith,  283,  285;  Froude, 
540 
"  History  of  European  Literature  " 

(Carlyle),  419 
"  History    of    the    French    Revolu- 
tion"    (Carlyle),  297,   415ff.,  421, 
424 
"  History  of  Jason,"  84 
"  History  of  the  Norman  Conquest  " 

(Freeman),  544 
"  History      of     the     Reformation " 

(Knox),  93 
"History   of   Rome"    (Goldsmith), 

285 
"  Histrio-Mastix"  (Prynne),  171 
Hobbes,  Thomas,  166 
Holinshed,   Raphael,   97 
Holmes,    Oliver    Wendell,    60,    312, 

425,  435,  530,  535 
"Holy  Friar"   (Burns),  80 
"  Holy    Living    and    Holy    Dying " 

(Taylor),  169 
"Holy   State"    (Fuller),   169 
"Holy   War"    (Bunyan),   197 
Homer,  108,  109,  152,  161,  224,  252, 
308,  311,   348,  375,  402i  480,  482, 
516,  542,  553,  562 
Hooker,  Richard,  98,  169,  482 
"Hours  of  Idleness"   (Bvron),  374 
Horace,  60,  224,  249,  259,  298,  311. 

348,  436,  489 
*"^itidibras  "  (Butler),  200,  202 
Hughes,  Thomas,  543 
"Human  Life"   (Rogers),  397 
Hume,  David,  215,  216,  220 
•"-Rumphrey    Clinker"     (Smollett), 

352 
Hunt,  Holman,  546 
Hunt,  Leigh,  406,  409 
Hutchinson,  Lucy,  172,  494,  495 
Huxley,  Thomas,  161,  530,  544 
"  Hydriotaphia  "  (Browne).  169 
"Hymn  to  Hermes"  (Shelley),  386 


INDEX 


585 


"Tlymn  to  the  Nativity"   (Milton), 

177 
"Hyperion"   (Keats),  390,  393 

"  Idiot  Boy  "  (  Wordsworth),  338 
"Idle    Shepherd    Boys"     (Words- 
worth), 337 
"Idler"    (Johnson),  272 
"Idylls  of  the   King"    (Tennyson), 
'     30,  48,  49,  85,  95,  441 
-"If"   (Kipling),  568 
>"  Iliad"    (Homer),  66.  88,  109,   152, 

161,  251,  255,  308,  311,474 
"II  Penseroso"    (  Milton  ),   177,   191 
"Imaginary   Conversations"    (Lan- 
der), 405 
"Imperfect    Svmpathies "    (Lamb 

368 

"  Impressions       of        Theophrastus 
Such"  (Eliot),  528 
j^' In  Memoriam  "    (^Tennyson),  386 
406,  436,  443 
"  In     the     Days     of     the     Comet " 

(Wells),   557 
"  In     the     Shadow     of     the     Glen  ' 

(Synge),  560 
Induction,  148 
"  Infant  Joy"  (Blake).  397 
"  Infant  Sorrow  "  (Blake),  397 
Ingelow,  Jean,  502 
Ingersoll,   Robert,  315 
"  Inkerman  "   (Tennyson),  441 
'"  inland  Voyage"   (Stevenson),  488 
''  Instauratio        Scientiarum'' 

(Bacon),  147 
"Interlude,  An"    (Swinburne),  550 
Interlude,  development  of,  120 
"  Invisible  Man  "  (Wells),  556 
"  Iphigenia        and        Agamemnon  " 

(Landor),  405 
"Irish  Essays"   (Arnold),  542 
"Irish  Melodies"    (Moore),  408 
Irish   Playwrights.  554.  559,  560 
Irving,  Washington,  220,  355,  453 
"Isabella"  (Keats),  390 
"Island"   (Byron).  378 
"_Island     Nights'     Entertainments " 

(Stevenson),  491 
-^'I'slanders  "   (Kipling),  567 
"  Isles  of  Greece"  (Byron),  381 
"It  is   Never  Too  Late   to   Mend  " 

(Reade),  539 
"Italy"  (Rogers).  397,477 
"lyanhoe"    (Scott),    43,    353,    354, 
"^  469,  528 


"Jack    of    Newberry"     (Deloney), 

100 
Jacobites,  220,  302 
James,  Henry,  558 
"Janet's   Repentance"    (-£Jiot),  526 
"  Jeames'  Diary"  (Thackeray),  469 
Jeffrey,  Francis,  263,  322,  403,  408, 

429 
Jerrold,  Douglas,  447,  459,  532 
"Jerusalem    Delivered"     (Tasso), 

348 
"few    of   Malta"    (Marlowe),    122, 

'123 
"John  Anderson"    (Burns),  319 
"John  Woodvil"   (Lamb),  364 
Johnson,  Samuel,  9.  78,  94.  115,  131, 

215.  245,  247,  253,  258,  265,  266ff., 

280,  283,   286,  288,  312.  351,  369, 

403,  411.  420,   422,  434,   440,  4^1, 

494,  497,  506,  559 
Jonson,  Ben,  111,  151fif.,  171./  S  >.  « 
"Julian    and    Maddalo "    (Shelley), 

385  .    , 

"Juliana"   (  Gyutiaettl  f ) .  35 
'i^lius  Caesar"  (Shakespeare),  130, 

132 
Juvenal,  257,  270 
"  Juvenalia  "   (Moore),  406 
"Jungle  Book"  (Kipling),  566 
"Just  So  Stories"  (Kipling),  566 

Keats.   John,   60,   96,   152,   171,   246, 
312,  326,  382,  384,  386.  390ff.,  445, 
531,  533,  561 
,>-TCenilworth  "  (Scott),  353 

"Kerry    and    Wicklow "     (Synge), 
560 

Khayyam,  Omar,  538 

"^'Kidnapped"    (Stevenson),  490 

King,  Edward,    178 

'^-Kim"   (Kipling),  566 

"-King    John"     (Shakespeare),    46, 
123,  125,  128,  442 

".iCing    Lear"     (Shakespeare),    99, 
130,  133,  135,  560 

"King's   Quhair  "   (King  James  I), 
80 

"A    King    and    No    King"    (Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher),  157 

Kingsley,  Charles.  43.  447.  540 

Kipling,  Rudvard.  20,  31,  43,  46,  87, 
106,   109,  136,  362  ff..  442.  490 

"Kipps"   (Wells),  537 

Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  254 


iSG 


INDEX 


•  Kn'Jilit    of    the    Burning    Pestle " 

(  r.caumont  and  Fletcher),  157 

•  K-iiiglit"s  Tale"    (.Chaucer),  65 
•Knight's  Tomb"   (Coleridge),  361 

Knowles,  James  Sheridan,  439 

Knox,  John,  195.  42(1 

■  Kuhla  Khan"    (Coleridge),  360 

•  KuKvch  and   Ohven,"  48 

••  La  Belle  Dame  Sans  Merci " 
(Keats).  390 

Labor,  Ruskin  on,  480 

•Lady  (.Icraldine's  Courtship"  (E. 
B.  Browning),  518 

••Lady  of  the  Lake"  (Scott),  346, 
350 

••  Ladv  of  Lyons  "  (Bulwer-Lytton), 
532' 

••  Lady  of  the  Manor"  (Mrs.  Sher- 
wood), 476 

■•Lady's  Yes"  (E.  B.  Browning), 
520. 

■  Lalla  RooWi"  (Meore),  409 

•L'Allegro"  (Milton),  177,  191. 
394 

Lamb.  Charles,  154,  155,  156,  169, 
220,  308,  312.  358,  361.  364ff.,  485, 
487,  495,  496,  531 

••  Lamia"   (Keats),  392 

■'Landing  of  the  Pilgrims"  (He- 
mans),   499 

Landor.  Walter  Savage,  405.  447, 
457.  548 

Landseer.  Sir  Edwin  Henry,  459 

Lang,  Andrew,  161,  488,  489,  553 

Langdon,  Bennet,  273 

Langland,  William,  56.  61 

Lanier,  Sidney,  524 

Lankester,  Ray.  544 

■■  Laodamia  "   (Wordsworth).  342 

•'  L'Art  Poetique  "  (Boileau),  249 

■'  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  "  ( Bulwer- 
Lytton),  533,  551 

••  Last  Man  "  (Campbell),  400 

"Last  of  the  Barons"  (Bulwer- 
Lytton),  87,  533 

■•4^st  Rose  of  Summer"  (Moore), 
408 

••Latter  Day  Pamjihlcts  "(Carlyle), 
420 

•  Laus   X'cneris  "    (Swinburne),  549 
"T^vcngro"    (Borrow),   538 
Lawcs,  Henrv,  179.  180 


"Laws  of  Candy"  (Beaumont  and 
Fletcher),  157 

Layamon,  47.  48,  49 

'■  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  "  (Scott), 
375,  428 

-HLays  of  Ancient  Rome"  (Ma- 
caulay),  74,  433 

"Lead,  Kindly  Light"  (Newman), 
533 

"Leech  Gatherer"  (Wordsworth), 
2,27 

Le  Galliene,  Richard,  562 

".L-8g,cnd  of  Good  Women  "  (Chau- 
cer), 65 

'■Legend  of  Jubal  "    (Eliot),  527 

"Legend  of  the  Rhine"  (Thack- 
eray), 469 

'■Legends  and  Lyrics"  (Proctor), 
503 

Lehman.  R.  C,  453 

Leigh.  J.  A.,  515 

Le  Sage,  453 

Lessing,  60,  263,  289 

'•  Letter  of  Advice  "  (Praed),  534 

"  Letter  to  the  Sheriffs  of  Bristol  " 
(Burke).  292 

"  Letters   of   Robert    and    Elizabeth 

"  Letters  of  an  Uncommercial  Trav- 
eller "    (Dickens),  459 
Lever,  Charles,  534 
"Leviathan"    (Hobbes),   166 
Lewes,   George,  471,  515,  525 
"Lie,  The"  (Raleigh),  96 
"Life  and  Death''    (Montgomery). 
398" 
fe  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman  " 
5unyan),  197 
"  Life  and  Letters  of  Darwin,"  538 
"  Life  of  Beau  Nash  ''  (Goldsmith), 

283 
^^J^&  of  Browning"  (Chesterton), 

451 
"Life    of    Byront"     (Noel),    383: 

(Moore),  409 
"Life  of  Dickens"    (Ward),  462 
'"Life   of   George   Eliot"    (Brown- 
ing), 529    ' 
"Life  of  Gladstone"  (Morley),  545 
"Life  of  Goethe"   (Lewes),  526 
"Life  of  Jesus"   (Strauss),  493 
"Life  of  John  Milton"   (Masson), 
544 


INDEX 


oS7 


^^"trrfe  of  Johnson"   (Boswcll),  217 
"Life  of  Keats"  (Rossetti),  395 
'!J=rife   of   Macaulay "    (Trevelyan), 

434 
■'Life  of   Nelson"    (Southcy).  403 
"  Life   of   Richard    lirinsley    Sheri- 
dan"   (Moore),  409 
"Life  of    Schiller"    (Carlyle),  413 
"Life  of  Shelley"    (Dowdcn),  389 
Liljcncrantz,   Ottilic,  36 
Lily,  William,  89 
Linacre,  Tliomas,  89 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  60,   162,  435 
"The  Liner   She's   a   Lady"    (K'P- 

ling),  566 
Linn^ean  doctrine,  536 
Literature,  definition  of,  9,  11 
.Ji-Lrrttle  Billee  "  (Thackeray  ),  470 
"Little  Cloud"   (Montgomery),  399 
•'*'Llttle   Dorrit"    (Dickens),  460 
-^-Little  Minister"    (Barrie),  555 
"Lives   of   the   Poets"    (Johnson), 

215,  278,  287 
"  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England  " 

(Strickland),  500 
"  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland  " 

(Strickland),  500 
'■  Lochiel's    Warning  "    (  Campbell ) , 

400 
Locke,  John,  204,  366 
Lockhart,    John    Gibson,    161,    276, 

445 
"  Locrine  "   (Swinburne),  549 
"  Locksley   Hall"    (Tennyson).   438 
"  Locksley  Hall  Sixty  Years  After  " 

(Tennyson),  442 
Lodge,  Thomas,  99,  100.  121,  350 
"Lodging  for  the  Night"   (Steven- 
son), 488 
"London"    (Johnson),  270 
Longfellow,  H.  W.,  32,  60,  410,  441, 

442 
"Lord  Jim"    (Conrad),   558 
"Lord    of    Burleigh"    (Tennyson), 

438 
"Lord   of   the   Isles"    (Scott),  349 
"Lord   Ullin's   Daughter"    (Camp- 
bell), 400 
"  Lorna  Doone  "    (Blackmore),  545 
"  Lost  Leader  "   (Browning),  448 
"Lothair"   (DisraeH),  539 
Loti,   Pierre,   56 

"Lotus  Eaters"   (Tennyson),  438 
"Love"  (Coleridge),  360 


"Love  for  Love"   (Congreve),  202 

"  Lovel  the  Widower "  (Thack- 
eray), 470 

Lovelace,   Richard,   167 

i-over,  Samuel,  534 

"  Love's  Labour's  Lost  "  ( Shake- 
speare), 117,  125,  126 

"Love's  Meinie  "   (Ruskin),  481 

"Love's   Sacrifice"    (Ford),  157 

"Love's  Young  Dream"  (Moore), 
408 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  24,  32,  60, 
65,  78,  79,  163,  211,  250,  265,  473, 
530,  563 

"  Lucrece  "  (Shakespeare),  125,  128, 
136      , 

"Lucy  Gray"  (Wordsworth),  336, 
339 

"  Luria  "    (Browning),  448 

Luther,  Martin,  90,  100.  195.  420 

"Lycidas"    (Milton).   171,   178,  443 

Lydgate,  John,  80.  87 

Lyiy,  John,  96,  98,  121,<  124,  126 

"Lyra  Apostolica  "  (Newman).  533 

Lyric,  49,  82  '' 

"Lyrical  Ballads"  (Wordsworth- 
Coleridge),  219,  361,  396 

Lyric,  dramatic,  451 

Lytton,  Edward  Bulwer,  87,  459,  532 

Lytton,  Robert,  473 

"  Macaulay,"  357 

Alacaulay,    Thomas    Babington,    42, 

45,  74,  94,  108,  115,  130,  134,  143, 

148,   150,   161,   163,   165,   177,   192. 

197,   198,   201,  205,  206,  250,  287, 

288,  293,  314,  351.  388,  425ff..  457. 

497,  504,  514.  540 
"Macbeth"   (Shakespeare),  39,  130, 

134,  155,  486 
Mackenzie,  Henry,  321 
Mackintosh,  Sir  John,  261 
Macpherson,   Hector,   530 
Macready,  William,  447,   459 
Maeterlinck,   Maurice,   136,   555 
"Magistrate,    The"     (Pinero),    560 
"Maid  of  Athens"  (Byron),  375 
"Maid  of  Orleans"   (Schiller),  126 
"Maid's  Tragedy"   (Beaumont  and 

Fletcher),  157 
"Malcontent"   (Marston),  156 
Malory,    Sir  Thomas.  49.   79,  84flf., 

444 
Malthus.  Tliomas,  537 


t    T    r     :     t 

t   f    r    I    f    I 

%   t    \     .1 
t    f    r         r 
f 


586 


INDEX 


•'.kiiight   of    e    Burning    Pestle 

''(Beaumonl  id  Fletcher),  157 
"-Knight's  Taf   (Chaucer),  Oo^ 
"Knight's  Tod"  (Coleridge),  obi 
Knowles,  Jam.  Sheridan,  439 
Knox.  John.  1,  420      _ 
"Kubla  Khan  (Coleridge),  36U 
"  Kulwch   and31\ven,"  48 

"fca  Belle  Ime  Sans  Merci " 
(Keats),  39' 

Labor,  Ruskinn,  480 

"Lady  Geralde's  Courtship"  (t. 
B.  Brownini,  518 

"Lady  of  tlie.ake"  (Scott),  340, 
350 

"  Lady  of  Lvoi"  (Bulwer-Lytton). 
532 

"Lady  of  the  [anor  "  (Mrs.  Sher- 
wood), 476 

"Lady's  Yes'(E.  B.  Browning), 
520. 

•  Lalla  Rookh  (Meore),  409 

"L' Allegro"  Milton).  177.  191. 
394 

Lamb,  Chark  154,  155,  156,  169. 
220,  308,  312358,  361,  364fif.,  485, 
487,  495.  49(531 

"Lamia"  (Kd:s),  392 

"Landing  of  le  Pilgrims"  (He- 
mans),  499 

Landor,  Walt'  Savage,  405,  447, 
457,  548 

Landseer.  Sir  dwin  Henry.  459 

Lang,  AndrL\\161.  488,  489.  553 

Langdon,  Ikn;t,  273 

Langland,  A\ihm.  56.  61 

Lanier,  Sidne_\524 

Lankester,  Ra  544 

"  Laodamia '"  A''ordsworth  ).  342 

''  L'Art  Poetiq',  "  (Boileau),  249 

"Last  Days  o Pompeii"  (Bulwer- 
Lytton),  53.551 

"Last  Man"  iampbell),  400 

"Last    of    theBarons"    (Bulwer- 

^^  Lytton),  87;33 

'^-iast  Rose  o Summer  "  (Moore) 
408 

"  Latter  Day  Jmphlets  "  (Carlyle  ) , 

^^Laus  Veneri'    (Swinburne: 
"Lavengro"  Borrow),   538 
Lawes,  Henrj^79,  180 


"  Laws  of  Candy"  (Beaumont  and 

Fletcher).  157 
l.ayamon,  47,  48,  49 
"  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  "  (Scti ) 

375.  428 
-"^  Ltivs    of    Ancient    Rome"     > 

caulay),  74,  433 
"  Lead,  Kindly  Light  "   ( Xewm 

533 
"Leech  Gatherer"    (Wor 

337 
Le  (ialliene.  Richard.  562 
"iAj»Bnid  of  (iood  W'omei: 

cer ) .  65 
••  1  .■.->. I  ..f  Juhal"    (Elu-:   .  . 
"1  the    Rhine"    (Ih 


"  LcKcnds  and   Lyrics  " 

503 
Lehman.  R.  C.  453 
Leigh.  J.  A..  515 
I 


(Proi 


Sage.  45J 
Lessing.  60.  263.  289 
'■  Letter  of  Advice"  (  F*raed),  5 
■  Letter  to  the  Sheriffs  of  Bri- 

(Hurke).292 
"  Letters   of    Robert    and    Eliza 

'■  Letters  of  an  Uncommercial  1 

eller  •    (Dickens).  459 
Lcvt-r.  Charles,  534 
"  Leviatlian  "    (Hohbes),   166 
Lewes,  (jeorge,  471.  515.  525 
"Lie.  The"  (Raleigh).  96 
"Life  and  Death"   (NIontgomer 

398 
'  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badi 

TlUinyan).  197 

"  Life  and  Letters  of  l^arwin^ 
"  Life  of  Beau  Nash 

283 
::.iJle  of  Bn. 

451 
"  Life 

(M 


1  t 

1    T 


-'^^X 


INDIA 


*»s? 


>ttfe  of  Johnson  ■'  (Boswii 
"  Life  of  Keats  "  (.Rossctti ), 
'U^fe  of  Macaulay"    (TrevcKai; 

434 
"Life  of  Nelson"    (Southcv>,  4 
"Life   of   Richard    lirinsley    SIici 

dan  "  (Moore),  409 
"Life  of   Sciiiller"    (Carlvie).  413 
•Life  of  Shelley"    (Dowilcn'.    '^-' 
Liljencrantz,  Ottilie,  36 
Lily,  William.  89 
Linacre.  Tlioma-;.  S9 
Lincoln.  Abraham.  6U,  \(\2.  4.i.' 
'  The  Liner  She's  a  La 

ling),  566 
Linn.can  doctrine.  536 
Literature.  diliiiiMoM  of,  O,  !1 
.-li-iarttle  hillee  " 
"  Little  Cloud 
"T^^tle   Dorrit       i  i  ' 
■  Little  Minister"    < 
"  Lives  of   the    Potts 

215,  278.  2S7 
"  Lives  of  the  Qumis  of 

(Strickland).  5<  (» 
"  Lives  of  the  yuecns  ol  >. 

(Strickland).  5'^) 
■■  Lochiel's    Warning **    (Cami''"^'' 

4()0 
Locke,  John.  2i'4   ^'<'< 
Lockhart,    Join 

445 
"  Locrine  *"  (  ? 
'■  Lockskv    lla! 
"Loc!    ■  '    "  •'' 

O' 

Lodge 

'  Lodging  for  the 

son).  488 
"London"   (JohiiNun) 
Longfellow.  II.  W..  32, 

442 
"  Lord  Jim 
"  Lord 


I 


iSS 


INDEX 


•Mail    of    I'ccluiti  "     (Mackenzie), 

321 
••  Man  and  Superman  '  (Shaw),  5o9 

•Man    Who    Could    Write"    (Kip- 
ling), 564 

•  Man  Who  Would  Be  King"  (  Kip- 
ling),  SbZ,  566 

Mandeville,  Sir  John,  51ff..  59.  61 
••Manfred"   (Byron),  383 

Manning.  Rohert,  55 
"Manstield    Park"    (Austen).    352, 
512 

•'Manual    of    Sins"     (William    of 
Waddington),    55 

"Manxman"   (Caine),  58 

"March    to    Moscow"     (Soutliey). 
403 

"  Margaret  Ogilvy  "  (Barrie).  555 

"  Marino     Faliero  "      ( Swinburne  ) , 
549 

Marlowe,     Christopher,    96,     122fT., 
126,  152.  156,  189 

••  Marmion  "    (Scott),  346.   350 

Marprelate.  Martin.  97 

"Martin     Chuzzlcwit "      (Dickens  \ 
458 

Marston,  John,  151.  156 

"  Mary  "    (Tennyson),  441 

"Mary   Stuart"    (Swinburne),   549 

Masefield,  John,  409,  554 

Masque.  179fif. 

"Masque   of    Anarchy"    (Shelley), 
388 

Massinger,   Philip.   156 

Masson.  David,  544 

"Master    of    Ballanlrae  "    (Steven- 
son), 491 

"Match,  A"   (Swinburne),  550 

"Maud"    (Tennyson),  441,  442 

"  May  Queen  "  (Tennyson),  438 

"Mazeppa"    (Byron),  378 

Mazzini,  477 

"  McAndrew's    Hymn"     (Kipling), 
562,  566 

"Measure    for    Measure"    (Shake- 
speare),   135 

"  Melancholv  of  Tailors"   (Lamb), 
368 

"Melting  Pot"    (Zangwill),  560 

"  Memoir  "  (  Sydney  Smith),  404 

"Memoirs  of  Alfred,  Lord  Tenny- 
son"  (Hallam  Tennyson),  443' 

"  Memoirs  of  Wordsworth  "  (Chris- 
topher Wordsworth),  345 


"Memorial  Verses"   (Arnold),  542 

"Memories  and  Portraits"  (Ste- 
venson), 488 

'•  Menaechmi  "    (Plautus),   125 

"Menaphon"  (Greene),  100,  121 

"Men  and  Women"  (Browning), 
449 

Mendelssohn,  Felix,  435 

'Merchant  of  Venice"  (Shake- 
speare), 11,   123,  125,  127,  128 

Meredith,  George,  490,  545,  549 

Meres,  Francis,  125 

"Merlin  and  the  Gleam"  (Tenny- 
son), 29 

Mermaid  Tavern,  111,  153 

"  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor " 
(Shakespeare),   116,  130,  459 

"Messiah"  (Pope),  261 

Methodists,  220,  288,  304 

"Metres"   (Coleridge),  361 

"Micah  Clarke"   (Doyle),  555 

"Mid  Channel"    (Pinero),  560 

Middle  Age?,  79ff. 

Middlemarch.  527 

Middleton,  Thomas,  154,  155,  216 

"Midnight  Bell"  (Mrs.  RadclifYe), 
509 

"  Midsummer  Night's  Dream " 
(Shakespeare),  116,  120,  125,  128, 
134 

Mill,  John   Stuart,  415,  446 

"Mill  on  the  Floss"  (Eliot).  524, 
526 

Millais,  John  Everett,  546 

Miller.  Hugh,  253 

'•  Millers  Tale  "  (Chaucer),  71 

Millet,  Jean  Frangois.  488 

Milnes,  Richard.  436,  439 

Milton,  John.  9,  32,  45.  60.  76,  78, 
103,  151,  152,  158,  161,  163,  174ff., 
237,  328,  332,  345,  361,  369,  386, 
394,  411,  429,  431,  441 

"  Milton"    (Raleigh),  559 

"  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Bor- 
der"  (Scott),  349 

Minto.  William,  254 

Miracle  Plays,  118,  188 

"Mirror  for  Magistrates"  (Sack- 
ville),95 

M  it  ford.  Mary  Russell,  425.  498. 
499,  517 

"Mixed  Essays"   (Arnold),  542 

"Modern  Painters"  (Ruskin),  478, 
479.  482 


INDi:X 


589 


■'  Modest  Proposal,  A"  (Swift),  228 
"Moll   Flanders"   (Defoe),  299 
"Money"     (  Bulwer-Lytton  ) .    532 
"Monk's  Tale"    (Chaucer),  73 
Montagu.  Lady  Marv,  217.  254,  257, 

467,  474 
Montague.  Charles,  234 
Montaigne.  Michel.  146.  243 
Montgomery,   James,  398 
Montgomery.  Rohert,  431 
"Moonstone"    (Collins).    544 
Moore,  Thomas,  382,  406it..  534 
"  Moral  Essays  "   (  Pope  ) ,  262 
Morality  Plavs,  119 
More,   Sir  Thomas.  88,  89.  102,    148 
Morley,  John,  544 
Morley,    Henry.   20,  27,   33,   34,   39, 

292,  544 
Morris,  William.  547.  549 
Morris,  Gouverneur,  558 
"Morte    d' Arthur"     (Malory).    49. 

84;  (Tennyson),  438 
"  Mother  and  Poet  "  (  E.  P..  Brown- 
ing), 521 
"  Mother   Hubhard's   Tale  "    (  Spen- 
ser), 110 
"Mourning  Garment''    (Lyly).   121 
"Mr.   Gilfil's  Love  Story"    (Eliot), 

526 
"Mrs.  Leicester's  School"  (Lanili). 

366 
"  Much       Ado      About      Nothnig 

(Shakespeare).   121,  131 
"  Munera   Pulveris  "    (Ruskin).  4^4 
"Musical   Instrument.    A"      (E.   B. 

Browning).    521 
"My  Lady  Nicotine"  (Barrie).  553 
"My   Last   Duchess''    (Browning), 

448 
"My  Mother"   (^ Taylor).  498 
Mystery  plays.  119 
"  Mysteries     of     L^dolpho  "      ( Rad- 

clift'e).  509 
"  Mysterious       Warnings  "       (  Rad- 

cliffe),  SO9 
"Mystery       of        Edwin       Drood  " 

(Dickens),  461 

Napoleon,  24,  60,  227,  270.  313.  339. 

356.  379.  420,  421,  498,  568 
Nashe,  Thomas.  99.   100.   121,  350 
Nasmvth,  James,  539 
"Nati'on-l  Airs"   (Moore).  408 


"Natural  History"  (Goldsmith), 
285 

"Natural  Selection"  (Darwin  and 
Wallace),  536.  544 

"Nature   and    Men"    (Bacon),    146 

Nature  poetry,  302,  311 

"Necessity  of  Atheism"  (Shelley), 
384 

"  Necromancer  of  the  Black  Forest  " 
(Austen).  509 

"New  Araiiian  Nights"  (Steven- 
son), 488 

"New  Atlantis"    (Bacon),   148 

"  Newcomes  "    (Thackeray),  467 

Newman.  John  Henry,  161,  533 

"New  Timon "  (Bulwer-Lytton), 
533 

Newton,  Isaac.  204.  261,  366,  398, 
411 

"  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts " 
(Massinger),  156 

■'  Xibelungenlied,"  413 

Nichol,  John.  414 

"Nicholas  Nickleby "  (Dickens), 
457,  460 

"  Nigln  Thoughts"  (Young).  218, 
230,  301 

Noel.  Roden.  383 

"  Nora  Creina  "  (Moore),  408 

Normans,  40ff.,  163,  441 

North.  Christopher,  420,  433 

"  Northanger  Al)bey "  (Austen), 
508 

"Northward    Ho!"    (Dekker),    154 

Norton,  Thomas,  121 

"Notorious  Mrs.  Ebbsmith "  (Pi- 
nero),  560 

"Not  So  Bad  as_We  Seem"  (Bul- 
wer-Lytton ) ,  459 

"Novalis"    (Carlyle),  413 

Novel,  98  ;  picaresque,  100  :  develop- 
ment of,  350ff. 

"  Novels  by  Eminent  Hands " 
(Thackeray),  469 

"  Novum  Organum  "  (Bacon),  148 

"Obiter  Dicta"    (Birrell),  297,  559 
Occleve,  Thomas,  77,  79,  87 
"Oceana"   (Harrington),  171 
"Ode  to   Adversity"    (Gray),  306 
"Ode  to  Autumn"  (Keats),  393 
■'  Ode  on  the  Death  of  Mr.  Thomson 
(ColHns),  306 


59i 


INDEX 


••Ralph    Roister  Doistcr "    (L'dall), 

121 
'•  Ranihlcr,"  272 
'•Rape  of  the   Lock"    (Pope),  250, 

251.  262 
•'  Rasselas  "    (  Johnson  ),  272 
Reade.  Charles,  539 
Realism.  100 

'•  Rebecca    and    Rowena  "     (  Thack- 
eray). 469 
'•Recessional'"    (Kipling),  567 
"  RecuycU     of     the      Histories     of 

Trov."  83 
•' Redgauntlet  "  (Scott).  353 
"  Retlections   on   the   French   Revo- 
lution "  (Burke).  296 
Reformation,  86,  88,  90,  96,  97,  101. 

441 
Reformation.  Scottish,  93,  353 
Reign  of  Terror.  296,  325 
"  Religio  Laici  "  (  Dryden).  209 
"  Rcligio  Medici"   (Browne),  169 
"Rclicjues"    ^ Percy).  219,  348 
"Reminiscences"   (Carlyle).  423 
"Remorse"   (Coleridge),  362 
Renascence.  86,  88.  89.   96,   101 
•'Republic"   (Plato),  89 
Restoration.  186,  198ff..  232 
"Retaliation"    (Goldsmith).  286 
"Return  of  the  Druses"    (Brown- 
ing), 448 
"Revenge"   (Tennyson).  159,  442 
'•  Revenger's  Tragedy  "  (Tourneur), 

155 
"  Revolt  of  Islam  "  (Shelley),  385 
"  Revolutions"  (Carlyle).  419 
"Rewards  and  Fairies"    (Kipling), 

568 
Reynolds.  Sir  Joshua,  275,  276,  283. 

294 
"  Rlioda  Fleminsjf"   (Meredith),  545 
•'Rhymes  a  la  Mode"   (Lang),  553 
Rice,  James,  544 
"Richard   IT"    (Shakespeare),    125, 

129 
••  Riciiard  Til"   (Shakespeare),  125. 

129 
Richardson.    Samuel.   215.  220,  273, 

350fT.,  508.  528 
"Richelieu"    (Bulwer-Lytton),    532 
"Riders  to  the  Sea"   (Synge).  56U 
'•  Tiienzi  "    (Bulwer-Lytton),   533 
"Rime    of    the    Ancient    Mariner" 
(Coleridge),  83.  360.  361 


"  Ring  and  the  Book  "   (Browning), 

450 
••Rivals"    (Sheridan),  307 
"Roaring  Girl"   (Dekkcr  and  Mid- 

dlcton),   154 
Rol)ertson,  Dr.  William,  215,  220 
"Roliin  TTood,"  43.  46,  79,  82 
"Robinson   Crusoe"    (Defoe),   213, 

220.  257,  474,  490 
'•  Rob  Roy"    (Scott),  353 
"  Rob  Roy's  Grave  "  (Wordsworth), 

339  ^     . 

•'Robert     Elsmere "     (Mrs.     Hum- 
phry  Ward).   555 
Rochester,  b:arl  of,  199 
'•Roderick     Random"     (Smollett), 

351 
Rogers,   Samuel,  397,  404,  440,  477, 

496,  312 
•'Rokeliy"  (Scott),  349 
Romance,  312,  350 
"  Romance  of   the  Rose."  65 
"  Romeo  and  Juliet  "(Shakespeare). 

118,  125.  128 
"Romola"    (Kliot).  527.  528 
Rondeau,   552 
Rondel,  552 

"Rory  O'More"  (Lover),  534 
•■  Rosalynde  "  (Lodge),  100 
"  Rosamonde   Gray"    (Lamb),    364 
Roscommon,  Earl  of,  199 
Rossetti,    Dante    Gabriel.    395^  446, 

546ff.  '       -' 

Rous.  Francis,  161 
Rousseau,  Jean  JacqueSj^75.  366,  420 
Rowley,   William,    157 
"  Rubaiyat  "  (Omar  Khayyam),  538 
"Rugby    Chapel"    (Arnold),    542 
"Ruined   Cottage"    (Wordsworth), 

360 
"Rupert  of  TTentzau  "    (Hawkins), 

555 
Ruskin,    John,    161.    434,    444.    471. 

473ff.,  530 

Sackville,  Thomas.  95,  121.  124 
"Sad  Shepherd"    (Jonson),   152 
Saintsbury,  George.  65,  126,  131,  135, 

162.  361,  515 
■' Salmonia  "    (Davy),  .399 
"Samson  Agonistes  "  (Mil'on\  \SA 
"Samuel  Johnson"    (Carlyle),  415 
Sandys,  (jcorge,  159 


INDEX 


593 


"Sartor  Resartus  "    (Carlyle),  411, 

414,  479 
"Satire"  (Pope),  257ff. 
"Satires    of    Circumstance " 

(Hardy),  558 
"  Satiromastix  "  (Dekker),  154 
"Saul"    (Browning),  448 
Saxe,  John  G.,  303 
Saxons.   19tif.,  38,  158,  441 ;  idea  of 

government,  25  ;  language,  25,  26 
"Scenes       from       Clerical      Life" 

(Eliot),  526 
Schiller,  60,  126,  412 
"  Scholemaster  "  (Ascham),  101 
"School  of  Abuse"   (Gosson),  96 
"School  for  Scandal"   (Sheridan), 

307 
"Schoolmistress"  (Pinero),  560 
"Scientific     Memoirs"     (Huxley), 

544 
Scop,  27,  39 
Scott,    Sir  Walter,  43,  60,  80,   161, 

178,  202,  215,  312,  322,  328,  346ff., 

375,   382,  396,  400,  409,  410,   417. 

457,   469,  474,  480,  482,  485,  487, 

497,  506,  514,  524,  528,  540 
"  Scottish  Chiefs"  (Porter),  497 
"Seasons"   (Thomson),  302,  312 
"Second     Mrs.    T'anqueray "     (Pi- 
nero), 560 
"  Seditions  and  Troubles  "(Bacon), 

146 
Sedley,  Sir  Charles,  199 
"Sejanus"    (Jonson),  152 
Selden,  John.  171 
"Self   Help"    (Smiles),   539 
"Senate    of    Lilliput"     (Johnson), 

269 
"Sense  and  Sensibility"  (Austen), 

352,    508ff. 
"Sensitive  Plant"  (Shelley),  387 
"Sentimental    Journey"     (Sterne). 

352 
"Sentimental    Tommy"     (Barrie), 

555 
"  Sesame  and  Lilies  "  (Ruskin),  481, 

482 
."  Seven    Lamps    of    Architecture," 

479,  482 
Shakespeare,  11,  20.  39.  46,  48,  59. 

60,  67,  76,  78,  87,  94,  95.  99,  103, 

109,  115fif.,  150.  151,  153.  155,  157, 

161,   163,   169,   174,   189,   192.  201. 

208,  236-239,   247,   257,   259,   264, 
38 


272,  311,  318,  328,  348,  353,  369, 
370,  386,  394,  409,  420,  430,  438, 
442,  443,  444,  451,  486,  495,  542, 
554,  559 

"  Shaving  of  Shagpat  "  (Meredith), 
545 

Shaw,  George  Bernard,  559 

"She"    (Haggard),   554 

Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  199 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  9,  60,  78,  312. 
328,  358,  370,  373,  384ff.,  389,  445, 
518,  530,  549 

Shelley,  Mrs.,  384 

"Shepherd's  Calendar"  (Spenser), 
102,   105 

Sheridan,  Richard  B.,  220,  295,  307, 
409 

"  Sherlock  Holmes  "  (Doyle),  555 

Sherwood,  Mrs.  M.  M.,  476 

"She  Stoops  to  Conquer"  (Gold- 
smith), 284,  559 

Shirley,  James,  157 

"Shoemaker's  Holiday"  (Dekker). 
154 

"  Short  History  of  the  English 
People"  (Green),  545 

"  Short  View  of  the  Profaneness 
and  Immorality  of  the  English 
Stage"   (ColHer),  202 

Sidney.  Sir  Philip,  47,  88,  96,  98, 
99,   103,   105.  109 

"  Siege  of  Corinth  "  (Byron),  377 

"Sigurd  the  Volsung"  (Morris), 
547 

"Silas    Marner"    (Eliot),   524,   526 

"Silent  Lover"    (Raleigh),  96 

"Silent  Woman"   (Jonson),  152 

"Silverado  Squatters"  (Steven- 
son), 490 

"  Sir   Bevis,"   50 

"  Sir  Charles  Grandison  "  (Richard- 
son), 351 

"Sir  (Jalahad "   (Tennyson),  444 

"  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  "  (Addi- 
son), 245,  350 

"Sire  de  Maletroit's  Door"  (Ste- 
venson), 488 

"Skeleton  in  Armor"  (Longfel- 
low), 83 

Skelton,  John.  92 

Slavs,  14 

Smith,  Adam,  276,  306 

Smith,  Alexander,  364,  461 

Smith,  Horace,  396 


594 


INDEX 


Smith,    Sydney,   396,  403,   425,   429, 

514 
Smollett,  Tobias.  215,  220,  351,  352, 

453    469 
"Snob    Papers"    (Thackeray),  465 
Socialism,  460,  480 
"Social  Statics"    (Spencer),  543 
"  Sohral)    and    Rustum "    (Arnold), 

530,  542 
"  Soldier's  Dream  "  (Campbell),  400 
"  Solitary  Reaper  "   (Wordsworth), 

339,  343 
"  Song  of  the  Greeks  "  (Campbell), 

400 
"  Song  for  St.  Cecilia's  Day      (Dry- 
den),  211 
Songs,  82,  87  .     „    ,e    • 

"Songs    Before    Smirise        (Swm- 

burne),  549 
"Songs    of     Innocence"     (Blake), 

219,  3% 
Sonnet,  88,  94,  95,  552 
"Sonnets"  (Shakespeare),  116 
"  Sonnets    from    the    Portuguese " 

(E.  B.  Browning),  449,  518 
"Sonnets"   (Wordsworth),  342ff. 
Sophocles,  60,  89,  152,  311,  351,  451 
'•  Sophonisba  "   (Marston),  156 
"  Sordello  "   (Browning),  477 
"  Sorrows    of    Werther "     (Thack- 
eray), 470 
"Soul  Tragedy"   (Browning),  448 
South,   Robert,  202 
Southey,  Robert,  341,  358,  360,  402£f., 

409 
"Spanish      Gypsy"       (Middleton), 

155;  (Eliot),  527 
"Spanish  Tragedy"   (Kyd),  121 
"  Specimens    of    English    Dramatic 

Writers"  (Lamb),  365 
"  Spectator,"  220,  234,  236,  237,  272, 

350 
"Speculum    Meditantis "    (Gower), 

79 
Spencer,  Herbert,  525,  543 
Spenser,  Edmund,  45,  60,  78,  79,  94, 
96,  98,   103ff.,   115,   133,   136.   151, 
196,  233,  292,  311,  328,  332,  348, 
495 
"  Spirit  of  Solitude"  (Shelley),  386 
Stanza,  Spenserian,  108,  303 
"  State      of     German      Literature " 
(Carlyle),  381,  413 


"  Statue  and  the  Bust  "(Browning), 

449 
Stedman,  E.  C,  435,  530 
Steele,  Richard,  214,  226,  232,  237ff., 

469 
Stephen,  Leslie,  231,  250,  254,  256, 

268,  269,  488 
"Stepping     Westward"      (Words- 
worth). 339 
Sterne,  Laurence,  215,  352,  469,  558 
Stevenson,   Robert   Louis,    169,   384, 

410,  459,  485ff,  545,  555,  558 
"St.  Ives"  (Stevenson),  491 
"Stones  of  Venice"  (Ruskin),  479, 

482 
Story,  W.  W.,  519 
"  Story  of  a  Round  House  "  (Mase- 

field),  554 
"Story  of  Thebes"    (Lydgate),  80 
"  Strafford  "    (Browning),  447 
Strauss,  525 

Stubbs,  William,  433,  544 
"Studies  "  (  Bacon ) ,  146 
"Study  in  Scarlet"   (Doyle),  555 
"Style"  (Raleigh),  559 
Suckling,  Sir  John,  167 
Supernatural  in  Shakespeare,  134 
Surrey,  Earl  of,  95,  552 
Survival  of  the  fittest,  536 
Swift,  Jonathan,  161,  216,  222ff.,  236. 

238,   253,   255-257.   262,   263,   298,     , 

299.  403,  468,  469 
Swinburne,    Algernon    Charles,    78, 

385.  530,  547ff. 
"Sybil"  (Disraeli),  539 
Synge,  John  Millington,  560 

"Table    Talk"     (Selden),     171; 

(Cowper),  308;  (Lamb).  368 
Taine,  H.  A.,  78,  249,  265,  432 
"Tale  of  a  Tub"  (Swift),  225,  331 
"Tale  of  Two  Cities"    (Dickens), 

334,  457,  460 
"Tale  of  Two   Cities"    (Kipling). 

460,  563 
"Talented  Man"  (Praed).  534 
"  Tales  from  Shakespeare  "(Lamb), 

366 
"Talisman"   (Scott),  353 
"Tam  O'Shanter"  (Burns),  323 
"  Tamburlaine "      (Marlowe).      102. 

122 
"Taming  of  the   Shrew"    (Shake- 
speare), 128 


INDEX 


595 


"Task"  (Cowper),  308 

Tasso,  94,  108,  348 

"Tatler"  (Addison),  213 

Taylor,  Ann,  498 

Taylor,  Jane,  498 

Taylor,   Jeremy,    169.   495 

"  Teiresias  "   (Tennyson),  442 

"  Telemaque   (Fenelon),  318 

Tennyson.  Alfred,  29.  30,  43.  48,  60, 
78.  85.  95,  123,  174,  326,  328,  386, 
.S94,  406,  414,  435ff.,  447,  463,  494, 
504.  519,  524,  530,  533,  535,  549, 
562,  563,  564 

Tennyson,  Hallam,  276.  440,  442 

Tennyson,  Lionel,  440 

Terence,  121,  125.  348 

"  Tess  of  the  D'U  rbervilles" 
(Hardy).  558 

"Testament  of  Cresseid  "  (Henry- 
son),  80 

Thackerav.  William  Makepeace,  231, 
245,  252,  258,  260,  265,  287,  298, 
456,  463ff..  524,  534,  539,  540 

"  Thaddeus  of  Warsaw"  (Porter), 
498 

Theatre,  117ff.,  157 

Theocritus,  89,  105,  178,  311,  553 

Thompson,  D'Arcy,  485 

Thomson,  Arthur,  530 

Thomson,  James,  218,  220,  302,  303, 
306 

"  Thoughts  on  Education  "  (Locke), 
204 

"  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Discon- 
tent"   (Burke),  292.  297 

"TTiree  Fishers"  (Kingsley).  540 

"  Three  Musketeers  "  (Kipling),  565 

"Thrift"  (Smiles).  539 

Thucydides,  60.  89.  434 

"  Thunderbolt  "  (Pinero),  560 

"  To  a  Daisy"   (Wordsworth),  340 

"  To  Mary  in  Heaven  "  (  Burns),  320 

"To  a  Skylark"  (Wordsworth), 
340 

"To  the  United  States"  (Camp- 
bell), 401 

"  Tom  Brown's  School  Days" 
(Hughes),  541,  543 

"Tom  Jones"  (Fielding),  152,  351, 
526 

"Tomhnson"  (Kipling).  564 

"  Tommy  and  Grizel  "  (Barrie),  555 

"  Tom  Sawyer  "  (Mark  Twain),  489 


"Tono  Bungay"  (Wells),  557 
"Toxophilus"  (Ascham),  101 
"Traffics    and    Discoveries"    (Kip- 
ling), 567,  568 
"Travels  in  Abyssinia  "   (Johnson), 

268 
"  Travels  of  Mandeville,"  51,  52 
"Travels  with  a  Donkey"  (Steven- 
son), 488 
"Treasure     Island"     (Stevenson), 

489 
Trelawney.  Edward  John,  383 
"  Trelawney    of    the    Wells"     (Pi- 
nero), 560 
"Tremendous     Trifles"      (Chester-. 

ton),  559 
Trevelyan,    Sir    George    Otto,    276, 

357,  434,  514,  540,   552 
"  Tristam     of     Lyonesse "      (Swin- 
burne), 549 
"Tristam  Shandy"  (Sterne),  352 
Trollope,  Anthony,  467,  468,  471,  472, 

540 
"  Troilus    and    Cressida "     (Shake- 
speare), 135 
"  Troilus  and  Cressyde  "  (Chaucer), 

65 
"Truce  of  a  Bear"   (Kipling),  567 
"  True  Born  Englishmen  "  (Defoe), 

298 
"  Twa  Dogs  "  (Burns),  320 
Twain,  Mark,  50,  415,  490.  558,  564 
"Twelfth    Night"     (Shakespeare), 

130,   131 
"Two     Gentlemen     of     Verona " 

(Shakespeare),  125,  128 
"Two  in  the  Campagna  "    (Brown- 
ing), 449 
"Two   Noble  Kinsmen"    (Fletcher 

and  Shakespeare),  157 
"  Two  Paths  "  (Ruskin),  482 
"Two-penny    Post-Bag"    (Moore), 

409 
"  Two  Races  of  Men  "  (Lamb),  367 
Tyndale,  William,  88.  90.  102 
Tyndall,  John,  423,  541 

Udall,  Nicholas.  121,  124 
"Udolpho"  (Mrs.  Radcliflfe).  509 
"Ulysses"  (Tennyson).  438,   (Phil- 
lips), 560 


1 


ill 


MUt 


lNh^,% 


m 


'hM 


'I  .,' 


IJ-»- 


'H(M.  '  /I|h(/h(/,  IMI 
'  Vl»«l   Mf  WtfltHi*  I  ' 

MtMlllll       '(•  i       >U  i 

l<  h  f  I  <    I        I    '    I 

||  Ihi  ,         ;  ■       M,    .    I  .      ■     I' 

hm!  Ml 

■   '-If I"  MliH))>'/'  HM 

11,,,' II.  '/.' 


Ml    >»l|,    llh,  M    |(M 

llHtltMllI) 


"  'I'J '      llolttltlHIl  "     IMhmHI 

'  Nhii    hI    luiliiiHHll  '■    mmilltHH 

'Hs'"ji()"'  ''"'^''  '"'"W'ltiiitti, 

"  VlJl  Hi   lllH  limh"   M  m|,.iMm,.| 


'   VH^  (  ImiiihIiIU''  H|hiu«|. 


Ihwh),  j^^ 


I      IV, 


'A..^  Mf  (|t(.  W^M,  tl' 


■  ,'.'■ 

WtlM** 

1    .Ml 

1 1 

w.-  J. 

1     ' 

Ml 

f 

1 

M.ul.  i 


'I'lw  ill   I  111 


V»"i 


^H\ 


\\\>\  \ 


k^tti 


■m^ 


'^\\\^\\S 

\\\) 

,lu>    .,         \ 

\\<\\\^A\\^\\,  \^\\  W^^ 

\  \\\\\ 


t . .    I .      III. 


\\y\\\\\\    \\]Sy\    \'\ 


...  \\) 
\\A\*  \\\m\\\  \\\\\\y\\  ^M,  hw^ 


\»|\mM    |.>i\\,uy|    M«    H\V  m^  WW, 


I». 


tuinylll     \*[A\^\^   Ml 


V 


■I  .Hi 


506 


INDEX 


■  L'lulcr    the    Deodars"    (Kipling), 
••  I'ntortunate  Traveller"   (Nashe), 

United  States,  212,  407,  415,  457,  490, 

560,  564 
I'liities,  dramatic,  157,  239 
Universities,  86,  89,  100.  120 
"Unto  This   Last"    (Ruskin),  481, 

482 
"  I'rn  Burial  "   (Browne),  169 
'■  Utopia  "  (More),  88,  89,  102,  148 

"Vanity    Fair"    (Thackeray),    465, 
466  ,    ^^  , 

'•  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes      (John- 
son). 270 

••  Vathek"  (Beckford),  352 

"Venice  Preserved"   (Otway),  201 

"Venus     and     Adonis"      (Shake- 
speare), 116,  125,  128,  136 

Vercelli  Book,  35 

Vers  de  societe,  534,  552 

Versification,  103 

'•  Vertue"  (Herbert),  160 

"Vicar,  The"   (Praed),  534 

"Vicar  of  Wakefield.  The"   (Gold- 
smith), 283,  284,  287,  352 

Victoria,  433,  439,  47J 

"Victory"  (Conrad),  558 

"  View  of  the  Present  State  in  Ire- 
land," 111 

"  Vignettes  in  Rhyme,"  552 

Vilanelle,  552 

"  Village,"  396 

"  Vindications  of  Natural  Society," 
289 

Virgil,  60,  76,  95,  105,  108,  178,  232, 
233,  261,  318,  348,  402 

"Virgin  Martyr"   (Massinger),  156 

"  Virginians  "  (Thackeray),  468 

"  Virginihus     Puerisque "     (Steven- 
son), 488 

"Vision    of    Judgment"     (Byron), 

378 
"Vision  of  Judgment"    (Southey), 

402 
"Vision    of     Poets"     (Browning), 

518,  520 
"Visit  of  the  Gods"    (Coleridge), 

"  Volpone  "  (Jonson),  152 

Voltaire.  239,  254 

"  Vox  Clainantis  "  (Gower),  79 


Wace,  49 

"Walking    Delegate,    The"     (Kip- 
ling), 564 
Wallace,  Lew,  31 
Waller,  Edmund,  170 
Walpole,  Horace,  285 
Walton,  Izaak,  169,  470 
Wamba,  470 
"  War     of     the     Worlds,     The " 

(Wells),  556 
Ward,  A.  W.,  462 
Ward.  Mrs.  Humphry.  555 
Washington,  George,  378,  552 
Watts-Dunton,  Theodore,  311 
Waugh,  Arthur,  435 
"Waverley"    (Scott),  352-354,  356, 

357 
"Way  of  the  World,  The"    (Con- 

greve),  202 
"Wealth  of  Nations,  The"  (Adam 

Smith),  306 
"Wee    Willie    Winkie "    (Kipling), 

562 
"Weland's  Sword"  (Kipling),  43 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  378 
Wells,  H.  G.,  556 
Welsh,  Jane  Baillie,  413 
Wesley,  John,  304 
"  Wessex  Poems  "  (Hardy),  558 
"Westward  Ho!"    (Kingsley),  551 
"What  You  Will"   (Marston),  156 
Whewell,  436,  438 
Whitbley,  George,  530 
"White   Company,   The"    (Doyle). 

555 
"White  Devil"  (Webster),  155 
"  White  Man's  Burden.  The  "  (Kip- 
ling), 567 
Whitman,  Walt,  161,  473.  487 
Wicklifife,  John,  58,  59.  61,  90 
"  Widow     in      Bye     Street.     The " 

(Masefield),  554 
William  of  Newburgh,  44 
"William    the    Conqueror"     (Kip- 
ling), 566 
"  Window  in  Thrums.  A  "  (Barrie), 

555 
"  Windsor  Forest  "  (Pope),  261 
"Wine  of  Cyprus"   (E.  B.  Brown- 
ing), 516 
"  Winter's  Tale,  A  "  (Shakespeare), 

100.  137 
"  Winter  "  (Thomson),  310 
"Wireless"  (Kipling),  568 


INDEX 


597 


"Wish.  The"  (Cowley).  168 

••  Wit  and  Mirth,  or  Pills  to  Purge 
Melancholy"  (D'Urfey ),  200 

"Wit  without  Money"  (Beaumont 
and  Fletcher),  157 

"Witch  of  Atlas"  (Shelley),  386 

"Witch  of  Edmonton,  The"  (Dek- 
ker and  Ford).  154 

"  Woman  Killed  with  Kindness.  A  " 
(Heywood),  155 

Woman  writers,  494ff. 

"Women  Beware  Women"  (Mid- 
dleton),  155 

Wordsworth,  John.  340 

"Wordsworth"    (Raleigh).  559 

Wordsworth.  William.  45.  11,  79,  95, 
174,  206,  219,  258,  261.  263.  264, 
312,  313,  315,  326,  328ff.,  346,  350, 
355,  358,  360,  361,  363,  364,  370, 
375,  384,  394.  415,  438,  439,  441, 
447,  496.  516 

"World  Before  the  Flood,  The" 
(Montgomery),  399 

"Worthies  of  England,  The"  (Ful- 
ler), 169 


"  Wowing  of  Jok  and  Jynny,"  80 
"  Wrong  Thing,  The  "  (  Kipling),  87 
"  Wuthering     Heights"      (Bronte), 

502 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  95 
Wycherley,  William,  201 

Xenophon,  60,  89 

"  Yarrow  Unvisited  "  (W  o  i  d  s  - 
worth),  339 

"  Ye  Mariners  of  England  "  (Camp- 
bell), 400 

Yeats,  William  Butler,  554,  560 

Young,  Alan,  471 

Young,  Edward,  218,  230,  298,  301, 
306 

"Young  and  Old"   (Kingsley),  540 

"Young  Men  at  the  Manor"  (Kip- 
ling), 43 

"Youth  and  Age"  (Coleridge),  362 

"Your  United  States"  (Bennett), 
557 

Zangwill,  Israel,  560 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  L'bdjpv  t  i'-itlTY 
" Illlllllllllllllllllllllll 


^514    5 


^ 


mn 


■'    r::5 


UNIVERSlTVOFcAUFORNM,,. 


7  m -7 


•''^^.Cn07s4;444 


AA      000  294  514    5 


MMi 


V^#***«?'*^*f^ 


(^ 


M.M 


r 


\ 


